Opinion ID: 465192
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Claims against Diamond M

Text: 37 Richendollar sued his employer under 33 U.S.C. Sec. 905(b) as owner of the vessel, claiming vessel negligence. The limiting amendments to the LHWCA enacted in 1984 2 do not apply to Richendollar's accident, which occurred before adoption of the amendments. Prior to the 1984 amendments, an employee could recover compensation benefits from his employer and simultaneously seek tort damages against his employer, as vessel owner, under Sec. 905(b). 38 Our disposition of this appeal is largely guided by our recent decision in Pichoff v. Bisso Towboat Co., Inc., 748 F.2d 300 (5th Cir.1984), in which we cited with approval the decision by our Second Circuit colleagues in Smith v. Eastern Seaboard Pile Driving, Inc., 604 F.2d 789 (2d Cir.1979). In Pichoff the plaintiff was injured while repairing his employer's crewboat. A fuel tank located in the bilge was leaking. In supervising the work, Bisso's general manager told Pichoff to repair the fuel leak. Pichoff requested a drop light. When none was immediately available, the general manager gave Pichoff a flashlight and ordered him to get about the task of readying the boat. Bisso was eager to complete repairs so the crewboat could be put into service and generate revenue. While working in the bilge, Pichoff was injured, and a vessel negligence suit under Sec. 905 was ultimately filed. 39 Bisso argued that if it was negligent, it was negligent as a vessel repairer and not as an owner. Bisso's argument was rejected by this court, which noted that the trial court had found negligence in the failure to provide adequate lighting and in ordering Pichoff to proceed without delay because of the tight schedule, resulting from what Bisso perceived to be its financial interests. The latter was considered a function of the vessel owner and not the vessel repairer. In holding Bisso liable under Sec. 905(b) as vessel owner, we quoted the Smith observation that even during repair or longshoring operations,  'supervisory personnel in particular will continue to fulfill their general duties as agents of the shipowner, and the negligent discharge of these responsibilities can still result in liability to the vessel.'  Pichoff, 748 F.2d at 303 (quoting Smith, 604 F.2d at 796 n. 5). We further held that even if Bisso was negligent in part as owner and in part as repairer, its negligence as owner will support a judgment against it for all of Pichoff's damages. Edmonds v. Compagnie Generale Transatlantique, 443 U.S. 256, 264, 99 S.Ct. 2753, 2758, 61 L.Ed.2d 521 (1979). Pichoff, 748 F.2d at 303 n. 4. 40 Richendollar's vessel negligence claim includes a contention that he was not furnished a safe place to work and that his supervisor, Roy Harrelson, was negligent, which negligence was imputed to Diamond M as vessel owner. In support of his contention that Diamond M, as vessel owner, was obligated to provide him a safe place to work, he cites Scindia Steam Navigation Co. v. De Los Santos, 451 U.S. 156, 101 S.Ct. 1614, 68 L.Ed.2d 1 (1981); Chiasson v. Rogers Terminal & Shipping Corp., 679 F.2d 410 (5th Cir.1982); and Pluyer v. Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, 664 F.2d 1243 (5th Cir.1982). The argument that the vessel owner must furnish a safe place to work is well-founded. The House Report on the 1972 amendments to the LHWCA, which added Sec. 905(b), states: 41 Permitting actions against the vessel based on negligence will meet the objective of encouraging safety because the vessel will still be required to exercise the same care as a land-based person in providing a safe place to work. Thus, nothing in this bill is intended to derogate from the vessel's responsibility to take appropriate corrective action where it knows or should have known about a dangerous condition. 42 H.R.Rep. No. 92-1441, 92d Cong., 2d Sess. 118, reprinted in 1972 U.S.Code Cong. & Ad.News 4698, 4704. Richendollar's suggestion that any negligent discharge of duties by the Diamond M supervisors (particularly by Roy Harrelson) can result in a finding of vessel negligence is likewise well-founded to the extent Harrelson was acting on behalf of Diamond M in its capacity as vessel owner. 43 It is clear, utilizing the unerring 20/20 visual acuity always found in hindsight, that the work basket was dangerously faulty. The bottom had been welded to the underside of the frame instead of to the top of the frame. When the welds broke, there was nothing to restrain the bottom from falling, taking Richendollar with it. Richendollar was told to weld the hose rack on the starboard side. To do this he had to have a means of reaching the worksite with his welding equipment. A work basket, tack-welded to the platform at the work area, was the apparent answer. If Diamond M furnished the faulty basket, it furnished Richendollar with an unsafe place to work and is liable. If Diamond M did not furnish a safe basket, but left Richendollar to rummage on his own, it failed to provide him with a safe place to work. In either instance Diamond M is guilty of vessel negligence. 44 Roy Harrelson, the man to whom the entire Diamond M rigging-up crew reported, from whom they all took orders, and who was the Diamond M representative responsible for safety on the DON E. McMAHON, either provided Richendollar with an unsafe basket or failed to provide him with a safe basket or to take other available safety precautions. This negligence is attributable to Diamond M either entirely as vessel owner or in part as vessel owner. In either instance vessel negligence is extant and Diamond M is liable. 45 Diamond M contends that the trial court erred in the jury instruction on Sec. 905(b), citing Helaire v. Mobil Oil Corp., 709 F.2d 1031 (5th Cir.1983). We find Helaire inapposite for the vessel owner there did not actively participate in the unloading operation during which the accident occurred. Diamond M was not only actively involved, it was doing the entirety of the work of rigging up the vessel during the course of which the accident occurred. 46 We conclude that there is sufficient evidence to support the jury's finding that Diamond M was negligent as owner of the DON E. McMAHON, and that its negligence was responsible for the injuries sustained by Richendollar.