Opinion ID: 1805648
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 8

Heading: whether a cocktail waitress injured aboard a vessel is a jones act seaman.

Text: ¶ 12. Again, this Court has addressed this exact issue and concluded that a cocktail waitress is not a seaman for the purposes of the Jones act. The facts in King are almost identical to the facts in the case sub judice: a cocktail waitress slipped on something, falling to the floor and injuring herself. In King, this Court stated: Congress and the federal courts have established the rather generous remedies available to seamen injured in their jobs based in large part upon the increased risks which those workers face in said jobs. A seaman faces numerous dangers and hardships which are not faced by those who work on land. King's work duties, by contrast, do not place her at any greater risk of maritime injury than if she worked at any other seaside entertainment facility or restaurant on the Gulf Coast. The notion that a waiter or waitress working at a shore-based casino should be considered to be a seaman based upon the fact that the casino is built on barges which were once properly considered to be vessels is contrary to notions of fairness and common sense. King, 697 So.2d at 442. ¶ 13. This Court in Thompson set forth the criteria for one to be considered a seaman: (1) the duties of the employee must contribute to the function of the vessel or to the accomplishment of its mission, and (2) the employee must have a connection to a vessel that is actually in navigation that is substantial in terms of both its duration and its nature. Applying those criteria to a casino change person, Thompson found no seaman status. Thompson, 708 So.2d at 882. In Lane v. Grand Casinos of Mississippi, Inc.Gulfport, 708 So.2d 1377 (Miss.1998), we applied these criteria and found that a casino janitorial employee was not a seaman. In Wininger v. Ameristar Casino, Inc., 1999 WL 228986, ___ So.2d ___ (Miss.App., 1999), a divided Court of Appeals recently followed Lane and affirmed a summary judgment that an Ameristar Casino security guard was not a seaman. The dissent argued that there was a sufficient evidentiary basis to establish a jury issue on both the vessel and seaman issues. ¶ 14. Based on these criteria, Rush is not a seaman for the purposes of the Jones Act. First, the casino was moored at the time of the accident. It was not in navigation, as required by criterion 2. Second, a cocktail waitress can in no way be found to contribute to the function of the vessel, as required by criterion 1. This issue is also without merit.