Court Opinion

ID: 2964968
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2015-09-21 21:33:38.017542+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T15:02:00.316417
License: Public Domain

USCA1 Opinion

	

                            UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
                                FOR THE FIRST CIRCUIT
                                 ____________________

          No. 97-1509

                               PAUL F. FLORIO, ET AL.,

                               Plaintiffs - Appellants,

                                          v.

                       ALFRED L. OLSON, A/K/A LEONARD A. OLSON,

                                Defendant - Appellee.

                                 ____________________

                     APPEAL FROM THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

                          FOR THE DISTRICT OF MASSACHUSETTS

                  [Hon. George A. O'Toole, Jr., U.S. District Judge]
                                                ___________________

                                 ____________________

                                        Before

                               Torruella, Chief Judge,
                                          ___________

                            Coffin, Senior Circuit Judge,
                                    ____________________

                              and Boudin, Circuit Judge.
                                          _____________

                                _____________________

               Joseph  G.  Abromovitz,   with  whom  John  G.   Balzer  and
               ______________________                _________________
          Abromovitz & Leahy, P.C. were on brief for appellants.
          ________________________
               Thomas E. Clinton,  with whom Clinton & Muzyka,  P.C. was on
               _________________             _______________________
          brief for appellee.

                                 ____________________

                                  November 25, 1997
                                 ____________________

                    TORRUELLA,  Chief Judge.   Appellant  Paul  Florio sued
                    TORRUELLA,  Chief Judge.
                                ___________

          Alfred Olson in the United States District Court of Massachusetts

          alleging  a  maritime  tort  and  claiming  federal  jurisdiction

          pursuant to 28 U.S.C.  1333.  On January 5, 1993, Florio, working

          as a line handler, helped to bring the USS Kauffman into drydock.

          After  the  ship was  secured, he  was  asked to  fill in  at the

          capstan controls.  A capstan is a large motorized winch which can

          increase  or  decrease tension  on  a  line.   This  capstan  was

          operated remotely by  electrical button controls.   It was  being

          used on January 5, 1993 to facilitate the movement of the caisson

          door, the  device which closes  and seals the  drydock.   At some

          point, when  tension was put on the line running from the capstan

          to the caisson,  it snapped and seriously injured Florio.   It is

          undisputed that the caisson door, the capstan and Florio were all

          either connected to land or on land at the time of the accident.

                    Florio's claims were based  on allegations that, first,

          an  inspection of  the lines  involved in  the docking  procedure

          would have revealed that  the line at issue was in a deteriorated

          condition inappropriate  for  use, and  second,  that  inadequate

          precautions were  in  place  to  prevent injury  to  the  capstan

          operator  from a  parted  line.   The  defendant,  Olson, was  an

          independent dockmaster hired by  Florio's employer, General  Ship

          Corporation, to  supervise the docking procedures.  After a bench

          trial, the court  ruled for defendant  and this appeal  followed.

          We conclude  that under  Jerome B. Grubart,  Inc. v.  Great Lakes
                                   ________________________     ___________

          Dredge & Dock Co., 513 U.S. 527 (1995), the district court lacked
          _________________

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          subject  matter jurisdiction  and thus  vacate  the judgment  and

          dismiss the appeal.

                    Although  the district court  found that it  had proper

          jurisdiction  over this  claim  by  virtue  of  general  maritime

          jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C.    1333(1), a reviewing court has an

          obligation   to  inquire  sua  sponte  into  the  subject  matter
                                    ___  ______

          jurisdiction of  its cases, see  White v. Gittens, 121  F.3d 803,
                                      ___  _____    _______

          806  (1st  Cir.  1997),  and   to  proceed  no  further  if  such

          jurisdiction  is lacking.   See  Fed. R.  Civ. P.  12(h)(3) (West
                                      ___

          1997) ("[w]henever  it shall appear  . .  . that the  court lacks

          jurisdiction  of the subject matter, the  court shall dismiss the

          action").  

                    In  Grubart,  the  Supreme  Court  elaborated  upon the
                        _______

          jurisdictional  requirements of 28 U.S.C.   1333(1), articulating

          a clear two-part test.   513 U.S. at 531-34.  A  party wishing to

          assert  maritime jurisdiction over  a tort must  satisfy both the

          "location" and "connection"  requirements of the test.   In order

          to satisfy the  "location" or "situs"  requirement, a party  must

          show either that  the injury occurred on navigable  water or that

          the injury  was caused by  a vessel on  navigable water.   Id. at
                                       ______                        ___

          534.    In   order  to  satisfy   the  "connection"  or   "nexus"

          requirement,  the  party  must  show that  the  type  of incident

          involved has a potentially disruptive impact on maritime commerce

          and that the  "general character" of the activity  giving rise to

          the  incident  shows a  substantial  relationship  to traditional

          maritime  activity.   See  id.;  Evergreen  Marine Corp.  v.  Six
                                ___  ___   _______________________      ___

                                         -3-

          Consignments of Frozen Scallops, 4 F.3d 90, 93 (1st Cir. 1993).
          _______________________________

                    The  district court  found  jurisdiction  based on  the

          "connection" prong  of the maritime jurisdiction  test, reasoning

          that "[a]lthough  both Florio  and Olson  were 'land-based,'  the

          accident  occurred  in  the  course  of  a  traditional  maritime

          activity and was of  the kind that  has the potential to  disrupt

          maritime commerce."    While  the  district  court  appropriately

          consulted the second prong of the test, it failed to consider the

          first prong.  Under Grubart, maritime jurisdiction is found  only
                              _______

          where  the location  and the  connection prongs  are met;  one by
                               ___

          itself  will  not  suffice.    Therefore,  to  determine  whether

          maritime  jurisdiction is  appropriate  in  this  case,  we  must

          examine  whether  the  injury suffered  by  Florio  satisfies the

          location requirement.

                    Florio was injured while  he was working on  a drydock.

          It  is well-established  that permanent  drydocks are  considered

          "land" for  the purposes  of 28 U.S.C.    1333(1).   See  Victory
                                                               ___  _______

          Carriers,  Inc.  v. Law,  404  U.S.  202,  212 (1971);  Ellis  v.
          _______________     ___                                 _____

          Riverport  Enterprises, Inc.,  957 F.  Supp. 105,  107 (E.D.  Ky.
          ____________________________

          1997) (analyzing  numerous cases that  treat piers  and docks  as

          extensions  of  land   for  the  purpose  of   applying  maritime

          jurisdiction).    Therefore,  Florio's injury  did  not  occur on

          navigable water.

                    Florio's  injury,  then,  must have  been  caused  by a

          "vessel  on navigable water"  in order to  satisfy the "location"

          requirement.    However,  the  vessel   in  this  case  was  only

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          peripherally involved.  The USS  Kauffman had already been guided

          into the drydock.   The line that snapped was not attached to the

          ship or  supplied by  the  ship.   It ran  from one  part of  the

          drydock to another  part of the drydock, and  was controlled from

          shore.  

                    Furthermore, none  of Florio's  theories of  negligence

          directly implicate the vessel.  Florio's claims stem from Olson's

          alleged use of a weathered line and failure  to warn Florio about

          improperly  located capstan  controls.   These  claims allege  no

          causal connection between the vessel and the accident.

                    In  a  supplemental  memorandum  on   this  issue,  the

          appellants  cite Justice Douglas's  dissenting opinion in Victory
                                                                    _______

          Carriers, Inc. v. Law, 404 U.S. 202, 216-217 (1971) (Douglas, J.,
          ______________    ___

          dissenting),  urging  this  Court  to  avoid  "narrow,  grudging,

          hypertechnical definitions" of causation  and location.   Victory
                                                                    _______

          Carriers  applied  the  jurisdictional standard  at  issue  to an
          ________

          accident  on  a drydock  which  occurred  while cargo  was  being

          transferred  for  loading  aboard  a  vessel.1    In  ruling that
                              
          ____________________

          1   Victory Carriers, unlike  the present case, involved  a claim
              ________________
          brought under both the Longshore and Harbor Workers' Compensation
          Act  ("LHWCA"), 33  U.S.C.      903(a)(1),  905(b),  and  general
          maritime  law, 28  U.S.C.     1332, 1333.   At  the time  Victory
                                                                    _______
          Carriers was  heard, claims under  the LHWCA were subject  to the
          ________
          same jurisdictional requirements  as suits brought only  under 28
          U.S.C.    1333(1).  Since Victory Carriers  was decided, however,
                                    ________________
          Congress  has substantially  amended the  LHWCA.  See  Guilles v.
                                                            ___  _______
          Sea-land Service, Inc., 12 F.3d  381, 384 (2d Cir. 1993) (tracing
          ______________________
          the amendments  to the  LHWCA).  One  of the  amendments extended
          coverage  under the Act to include  certain contiguous land areas
          (such as  drydocks) which  had traditionally  been excluded  from
          maritime jurisdiction.  A  separate jurisdictional provision  was
          added to the LHWCA to accomplish this extension.  See 33 U.S.C.  
                                                            ___
          903(a).   Therefore, a case  brought under the LHWCA  today would

                                         -5-

          maritime jurisdiction did  not apply to the  case, Justice White,

          writing for the majority, stated:

                    In  the  present  case  .  .  .  the  typical
                    elements  of a  maritime cause of  action are
                    particularly attenuated:  [the injured party]
                    was not injured by equipment that was part of
                    the ship's usual  gear or that was  stored on
                    board, the equipment that  injured him was in
                    no way attached to the ship, [the  equipment]
                    was not under the control of the ship  or its
                    crew, and the  accident did not  occur aboard
                    ship  or on the gangplank.  Affirmance of the
                    decision  below  would  raise a  host  of new
                    problems   as  to   the  standards   for  and
                    limitations on the  applicability of maritime
                    law to accidents on land.

          Id. at  213-214.   This reasoning disposes  of the  present case.
          ___

          Jurisdictional  boundaries must  be respected,  even  where those

          boundaries seem  "narrow"  or  "hypertechnical,"  lest  confusion

          result  for litigants  trying to determine  the proper  forum for

          their claims.  

                    The  "location" requirement  for maritime  jurisdiction

          has not been  met in this case  because no vessel can be  said to

          have  caused Florio's injuries.   We  therefore need  not address

          whether the "connection"  requirement has been satisfied,  nor do

          we reach the merits of this case.

                    For  the reason  stated  herein,  the  opinion  of  the

          district court is vacated and this case is dismissed.
                            _______                  _________
                              
          ____________________

          encounter a  less stringent "location"  test than a  case brought
          under  the  general maritime  law  as  codified  at 28  U.S.C.   
          1333(1).  In  this narrow sense, the opinion  has been superseded
          by  statutory reform.   However, Victory Carriers  represents the
                                           ________________
          Supreme Court's application of the  jurisdictional standard which
          persists under general maritime law and is at issue in this case.
          We note that  Florio qualified for benefits under  the LHWCA, but
          that those claims are not before this Court.

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