Court Opinion

ID: 999494
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2013-07-04 17:26:30.979932+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T12:19:12.454229
License: Public Domain

UNPUBLISHED

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS

FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT

RALPH EDWARD MYERS,
Plaintiff-Appellee,

v.
                                                                No. 98-2047
LEADREW SWINDELL; GERALDINE
SWINDELL,
Defendants-Appellants.

Appeal from the United States District Court
for the Eastern District of North Carolina, at New Bern.
Malcolm J. Howard, District Judge.
(CA-97-111-4-H)

Submitted: April 20, 1999

Decided: August 17, 1999

Before ERVIN, NIEMEYER, and KING,
Circuit Judges.

_________________________________________________________________

Affirmed by unpublished per curiam opinion.

_________________________________________________________________

COUNSEL

John E. Holloway, HUNTON & WILLIAMS, Norfolk, Virginia, for
Appellants. Stevenson L. Weeks, WHEATLY, WHEATLY,
NOBLES & WEEKS, P.A., Beaufort, North Carolina, for Appellee.

_________________________________________________________________
Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit. See
Local Rule 36(c).

_________________________________________________________________

OPINION

PER CURIAM:

Leadrew and Geraldine Swindell appeal the district court's judg-
ment finding them liable on a seaman's personal injury claim. Ralph
Myers worked for the Swindells on their flounder fishing trawler. He
was injured while emptying a catch onto the deck of the vessel when
he slipped on fish and tore a tendon in his right shoulder. Myers
brought suit under the Jones Act, 46 U.S.C. § 688 (1994) (Appendix),
on a theory of negligence and included an unseaworthiness claim
under the general maritime law. The district court held a bench trial
and found that the captain of the vessel, and the Swindells, were neg-
ligent but that Myers was forty percent contributorily negligent. The
district court did not find that the vessel was unseaworthy. We affirm.

The Swindells first contend that the district court's factual findings
cannot support the legal conclusions derived from them. We disagree.
The district court's conclusion that the captain acted negligently in
bringing the full catch on board is amply supported by the findings
that it was or should have been evident to the captain that the catch
at issue consisted predominantly of an unwanted species of fish and
that the catch was too large to be handled safely by the deck hands.
The Swindells' arguments attempting to show discrepancies between
the factual findings and the negligence conclusion are unconvincing.

The Swindells also contend that the district court's damages analy-
sis is not sufficiently specific to comply with Fed. R. Civ. P. 52(a).
Specifically, they argue that this court must remand the case to the
district court for it to articulate the basis of its assessment of Myers'
future lost earning capacity. Although it is not clear how the district
court arrived at the specific $125 per week figure as Myers's lost
earning capacity, the record as a whole is sufficient for this court to
determine that the finding is not clearly erroneous. This is sufficient
specificity to comply with Rule 52(a). See Martin v. Deiriggi, 985
F.2d 129, 132-33 (4th Cir. 1992).

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We therefore affirm the judgment of the district court. We dispense
with oral argument because the facts and legal contentions are ade-
quately presented in the materials before the court and argument
would not aid the decisional process.

AFFIRMED

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