Opinion ID: 4265579
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Damage or Prejudice Correctable on Appeal

Text: The second Bauman factor, whether the petitioner will be damaged or prejudiced in a way not correctable on appeal, “is closely related to the first.” In re Henson, 869 F.3d 1052, 1058 (9th Cir. 2017) (citing Douglas v. U.S. Dist. Court, 495 F.3d 1062, 1068 n.3 (9th Cir. 2007) (per curiam)). Without our intervention now, it is unclear whether there ever will be an appeal given Barnes’s extremely limited resources—he is currently homeless. Moreover, even if there is an appeal, relief will come long after Barnes was entitled to maintenance to cover his basic living expenses. Four years have passed since Barnes initiated this litigation, and over three years have passed since the district court concluded that he was entitled to maintenance and had sufficiently demonstrated his actual expenses. Relief in a few more years will not redress his current need for assistance. Although the timeliness of relief on appeal is an everpresent concern when a case proceeds to trial, this concern is of special import in the context of maintenance and cure. The shipowner’s duty to pay maintenance and cure is virtually automatic, regardless of negligence by the seaman or lack of negligence by the shipowner. Bertram v. Freeport McMoran, Inc., 35 F.3d 1008, 1013 (5th Cir. 1994); accord Sana v. Hawaiian Cruises, Ltd., 181 F.3d 1041, 1044 (9th Cir. 1999). It “extends during the period when [the seaman] is incapacitated to do a seaman’s work and continues until he reaches maximum medical recovery.” Vaughan v. Atkinson, 369 U.S. 527, 531 (1962). There are three main reasons why courts impose this duty: “[t]he protection of seamen, who, as a class, are poor, friendless and improvident, from the hazards of illness and abandonment while ill in foreign ports; the inducement to masters and 32 BARNES V. SEA HAWAII RAFTING owners to protect the safety and health of seamen while in service; and maintenance of a merchant marine for the commercial service and maritime defense of the nation by inducing men to accept employment in an arduous and perilous service.” Id. (quoting Calmar S.S. Corp. v. Taylor, 303 U.S. 525, 528 (1938)). In line with these goals, admiralty procedure is designed to resolve a seaman’s dispute quickly and flexibly. See Cont’l Grain Co. v. The Barge FBL-585, 364 U.S. 19, 25 (1960); Farrell v. United States, 336 U.S. 511, 516 (1949) (“[T]he seaman’s right to maintenance and cure . . . is so inclusive as to be relatively simple, and can be understood and administered without technical considerations.”); Putnam v. Lower, 236 F.2d 561, 568 (9th Cir. 1956) (observing that “admiralty courts are flexible in operation”); cf. Atl. Sounding Co. v. Townsend, 557 U.S. 404, 423 (2009) (“[R]emedies for negligence, unseaworthiness, and maintenance and cure have different origins and may on occasion call for application of slightly different principles and procedures.” (quoting Fitzgerald v. U.S. Lines Co., 374 U.S. 16, 18 (1963))). For example, a complaint in admiralty is required to “state the circumstances from which the claim arises with such particularity that the defendant or claimant will be able, without moving for a more definite statement, to commence an investigation of the facts and to frame a responsive pleading.” Fed. R. Civ. P. Supp. Adm. & Mar. Cl. R. E(2)(a). In addition, “the special needs of expedition that often arise in admiralty justify . . . the practice” of allowing the plaintiff to serve interrogatories with the complaint and requiring the defendant to answer the interrogatories when answering the complaint. Id. R. C(6), advisory committee’s note to 2000 amendment. These rules favoring expediency BARNES V. SEA HAWAII RAFTING 33 supplant inconsistent provisions in the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. See id. R. A(2). In light of admiralty’s singular concern for the expeditious resolution of a seaman’s claims for maintenance and cure, and Barnes’s current need for financial assistance to meet his daily living expenses, the second Bauman factor favors mandamus relief.