Opinion ID: 463764
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Maintenance.

Text: 17 Yelverton admits that he produced no evidence concerning the value of his food and lodging. He claims that notwithstanding this absence of proof he is entitled to the going-rate of fifteen dollars a day. 18 Our exhaustive research of the case law in this circuit has revealed no case which has awarded a going-rate of maintenance to a plaintiff who has failed to submit evidence of his costs. A seaman's burden of production in establishing the value of his maintenance is feather light: his own testimony as to reasonable cost of room and board in the community where he is living is sufficient to support an award. Curry v. Fluor Drilling Services, Inc., 715 F.2d 893 (5th Cir.1983). Because the evidence before the court often consists solely of the seaman's testimony, it is common for courts to award a standard per diem. See, e.g., Gauthier v. Crosby Marine Service, Inc., 499 F.Supp. 295 (D.C.La.1980) (fifteen dollars a day); Robinson v. Plimsoll Marine, Inc., 460 F.Supp. 949 (E.D.La.1978) (fifteen dollars a day). Standardized rates of maintenance, however, do not dispense with the requirement that a plaintiff-seaman provide the trier of fact with an evidentiary basis upon which to determine a justifiable amount. See Springborn v. American Commercial Barge Lines, Inc., 767 F.2d 89, 95 (5th Cir.1985); Harper v. Zapata Offshore Co., 741 F.2d 87, 91 (5th Cir.1984); Curry v. Fluor, 715 F.2d 893, 896 (5th Cir.1983); Thezan v. Maritime Overseas Corp., 708 F.2d 175, 182 (5th Cir.1983), cert. denied, 464 U.S. 1050, 104 S.Ct. 729, 79 L.Ed.2d 189 (1984); Tate v. American Tugs, Inc., 634 F.2d 869, 870 (5th Cir.1981); Caulfield v. AC & D Marine, Inc., 633 F.2d 1129, 1132 (5th Cir.1981). 19 The record being devoid of any evidence upon which to base an award of maintenance, the district court's denial of maintenance was not erroneous. 20