Opinion ID: 36860
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The Vessel’s Unseaworthiness

Text: The M/V ROXANNE T was not unseaworthy. To establish unseaworthiness, a plaintiff must prove that a crewmember was not “equal in disposition and seamanship to the ordinary men in the calling.” Miles, 882 F.2d at 981 (citing Clevenger v. Star Fish & Oyster Co., 325 F.2d 397, 399–400 (5th Cir. 1963); 1B BENEDICT ON ADMIRALTY § 31 (7th ed. 1987)). A seaman fails to meet this standard only if he possesses a “wicked disposition, a propensity to evil conduct, [or] a savage and vicious nature.” Boudin v. Lykes Bros. S.S. Co., 348 U.S. 336, 385 (1955). Hasty offers no evidence that Brown possessed any such characteristics. C. Trans Altas’s Vicarious Liability for the Harbor Police’s Negligence Trans Atlas is not vicariously liable for the acts of the Harbor Police. The Jones Act incorporates the standards of the Federal Employers’ Liability Act, which renders an employer liable for injuries negligently inflicted on its employees by its “officers, agents, or employees.” 45 U.S.C. 4 § 51 (2004); Hopson v. Texaco, Inc., 383 U.S. 262, 263 (1966). When the Harbor Police responded as police officers to Captain Kopsywa’s call for assistance, they did not become officers or agents of Trans Atlas. D. Admiralty Jurisdiction Over the GLPC Harbor Police For a court to have maritime jurisdiction over a tort claim, a plaintiff must satisfy a two-part test: (1) the tort must have occurred on navigable water; and (2) the tort must bear a substantial relationship to traditional maritime activity. Grubart v. Great Lakes Dredge & Dock Co., 513 U.S. 527, 534 (1995). Federal courts must proceed with caution when determining whether to expand admiralty jurisdiction. Woessner v. Johns-Manville Sales Corp., 757 F.2d 634, 648 (5th Cir. 1985); Executive Jet Aviation, Inc. v. Cleveland, 409 U.S. 249, 272–73 (1972). We find that admiralty jurisdiction does not exist over Hasty’s claims against the GLPC. The conduct and activities of the GLPC are insufficiently related to traditional maritime activity.