Opinion ID: 2997131
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: The district court properly apportioned fault

Text: equally between the parties. Defendants attack the district court’s finding that both parties were 50% liable as violative of (1) this court’s cost avoidance doctrine as set forth in Rodi Yachts, Inc., 984 No. 03-1789 21 F.2d at 886-87 and Nat’l Gypsum Co., 915 F.2d at 1159 and (2) the rule of comparative fault in admiralty established by the Court in Reliable Transfer. Defendants’ first argument takes a far too literal reading of Rodi Yachts and National Gypsum. In National Gypsum, we stated that “the doctrine of comparative fault is generally supposed to be used to assess liability in proportion to the cost of avoiding the entire accident to each side.” 915 F.2d at1159. A fortiori, argue the defendants, because the City could have prevented the accident by placing a wooden fender in front of the recessed slot and the cost of such prevention is negligible, the City’s should be held 100% liable for the damage to the bridge. We find this analysis irreconcilable with the circumstances of the allision in this action. Taking the defendants’ analysis to its logical conclusion, it would be absolved of liability (or at least significantly shielded) regardless of its actions or negligent reaction to a mechanical failure. Defendants acknowledge that the crew lost control of the vessel due to the failure of the starboard winch brake. They were in sole control of the maintenance and inspection of the winch—therefore the City cannot be held responsible for the M/V Morgan’s failed machinery or the crew’s unreasonable reaction to the equipment failure. Defendants correctly assert that National Gypsum and Rodi Yachts involved ships which slipped their moorings and struck stationary objects. However, in National Gypsum the vessel was suing the City of Milwaukee arguing that it was negligently assigned to a slip containing hidden dangers, while in Rodi Yachts the issue was whether the defendant dock owner’s chafed ropes or the defendant barge owner’s improper mooring caused the vessel to come loose. The “fault” assessment, i.e., the maintenance of the slip dock or the upkeep/inspection of the ropes used to moor the vessel, involved an analysis of the 22 No. 03-1789 cost of preventing the vessels from drifting and causing the injuries.17 Here, by contrast, the comparative “fault” assessment is bifurcated between the affirmative actions of the M/V Morgan once the mechanical failure occurred and the City’s contributory fault for failing to replace the fender system. The cost of avoiding the accident is relevant to the degree of contributory fault on the part of the plaintiff, however, this degree of fault is limited to foreseeable harms. Put another way, a plaintiff is not a soothsayer and is not responsible to prevent every possible harm. Rather, a plaintiff must undertake its own cost benefit analysis and choose between types and degrees of protective measures. See Brotherhood Shipping Co., Ltd., 985 F.2d at 327 (“The cost-justified level of precaution . . . is thus higher, the likelier the accident that the precaution would have prevented was to occur . . . and the greater the loss that the accident was likely to inflict if it did occur.”). And that is exactly what occurred in this case. The City took some preventative measures by placing the cables outside of the navigable waterway in a recessed slot which would protect them from the more typical parallel rubbing or minor contact with the bridge’s superstructure. However, the cables did remain exposed to river debris and foreign objects. The district court’s decision to hold the City partially liable for the allision for failing to replace the wooden fender over the recessed slot which housed the cables was supported by the evidence. The court recognized that the cost of prevention was minimal and the potential harm to the bridge significant. The court also acknowledged that the allision could 17 We explained in Rodi Yachts that “the sort of accident that happened here can be prevented, or at least the probability of its occurring can be greatly reduced, by regular inspection of the ropes to make sure that they are not chafing, or otherwise fraying, or loosening, or coming untied.” 984 F.2d at 884. No. 03-1789 23 have been prevented if the City had taken this further preventative measure. However, the district court also found the M/V Morgan crew’s inability to face up the vessel caused an angular impact that was uncommon and unexpected. Thus, we find that the district court properly balanced the M/V Morgan’s affirmative actions with the City’s omissions and found both parties at fault. We can quickly dispense with the defendants’ second argument as we find that the district court did not clearly err in apportioning damages equally between the parties for the reasons stated above. Nat’l Gypsum Co., 915 F.2d at 1159 (citing McAllister, 348 U.S. at 20 and finding clear error where the “district court apportioned liability based on the amount of property each side had at risk.”); Feeder Line Towing Serv. Inc. v. Toledo, Peoria & Western R.R. Co., 539 F.2d 1107, 1111 (7th Cir. 1976) (upholding district court’s finding that defendant bridge was 65% liable based on its failure to light its protective system and that plaintiff was 35% liable based on the pilot’s negligent angular alignment of vessel). Though an equal apportionment of fault is unusual, the Reliable Transfer Court explicitly held that if the parties are equally at fault, an equal apportionment is appropriate. 421 U.S. at 411. The district court found that both parties could have avoided the accident with more prudent behavior. Its decision to hold the City 50% liable for its omission reflects the court’s recognition that the City could have prevented this accident cheaply, by simply replacing the wooden fender. This figure also acknowledges the M/V Morgan’s liability in failing to face up the vessel. Therefore, we do not find that a “mistake” has been made in this apportionment, Nat’l Gypsum Co., 915 F.2d at 1159, and affirm the district court’s determination to apportion fault equally between the parties. 24 No. 03-1789