Opinion ID: 201308
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Jones Act and Unseaworthiness Causes of Action

Text: 52 We have determined that it is inappropriate to apply the Pennsylvania Rule to shift the burden of proving necessary causation for a claim of Jones Act negligence or unseaworthiness. Nevertheless, these theories of liability might be met independent of the Pennsylvania Rule. Therefore, we review both the Jones Act and unseaworthiness causes of action to ensure that no genuine issue of material fact exists that would prevent Smith from being entitled to a judgment as a matter of law.
53 Unseaworthiness is a cause of action that enforces the shipowner's absolute duty to provide to every member of his crew a vessel and appurtenances reasonably fit for their intended use. Underwriters at Lloyd's v. Labarca, 260 F.3d 3, 7 (1st Cir.2001)(quoting Mitchell v. Trawler Racer Inc., 362 U.S. 539, 550, 80 S.Ct. 926, 4 L.Ed.2d 941 (1960)); see also Ferrara v. A.V. Fishing Inc., 99 F.3d 449, 453 (1st Cir.1996) (quoting Mitchell, 362 U.S. at 550, 80 S.Ct. 926). While a plaintiff need not prove negligence to recover under the general maritime law theory of unseaworthiness, an unseaworthy condition that is the proximate cause of the injury sustained must be shown. Ferrara, 99 F.3d at 453 (citing Hubbard v. Faros Fisheries, Inc., 626 F.2d 196, 199 (1st Cir. 1980)). 54 Here, the Estate has failed to show a triable issue of proximate cause in support of its unseaworthiness claim. Assuming that the Estate is correct regarding the existence of safety violations on board the Vessel, such regulatory violations could form an unseaworthy condition. However, in order to make out a claim of unseaworthiness, the Estate must also prove that these violations were the proximate cause of the injury. The Estate is unable to prove causation here because no one really knows what happened to the Vessel and Captain Minott, and thus there is no evidence linking the violations to the fact that the Vessel sank or that Minott drowned. Since [m]ere allegations, or conjecture ... are insufficient to raise a genuine issue of material fact, Thomas v. Metropolitan Life Ins. Co., 40 F.3d 505, 510 (1st Cir.1994), the district court correctly dismissed appellant's unseaworthiness claim given the dearth of record evidence pointing to any causation whatsoever.
55 The plaintiff also failed to show the causation necessary for a Jones Act negligence claim. The Jones Act provides seamen with an action for damages at law where an employer's failure to exercise reasonable care causes a subsequent injury even where the employer's negligence did not render the ship unseaworthy. Ferrara, 99 F.3d at 453 (citing Toucet v. Maritime Overseas Corp., 991 F.2d 5, 10 (1st Cir.1993)). In contrast to unseaworthiness, a negligence claim under the Jones Act requires a lesser degree of causation: `A plaintiff's burden of proving causation under the Jones Act is featherweight.... Liability, therefore, exists if the employer's negligence contributed even in the slightest to the plaintiff's injury.' Gifford v. American Canadian Caribbean Line, Inc., 276 F.3d 80, 83 n. 2 (1st Cir.2002) (quoting Ferrara, 99 F.3d at 453). 56 However, the Estate is incapable of generating a triable issue even as to this lesser, lighter burden of causation. The Estate cannot prove that any of the four asserted regulatory violations was in any way causally linked to what happened to the F/V KATINA ASHLEY and Captain Minott, because there is no evidence of what happened other than the two EPIRB distress signals received by the Coast Guard and the fact that Captain Minott drowned. See Magarian v. Hawkins, 321 F.3d 235, 240 (1st Cir.2003) (`[C]onclusory allegations, improbable inferences, and unsupported speculation' are insufficient to defeat summary judgment.) (quoting Leblanc v. Great American Ins. Co., 6 F.3d 836, 842 (1st Cir.1993)). 57 Therefore, we agree with the district court that the appellant has failed to show the necessary causation to make out a claim of Jones Act negligence or unseaworthiness. 58