Court Opinion

ID: 9448286
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-03 23:29:57.048411+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:31:21.670328
License: Public Domain

CLARK, Circuit Judge
(dissenting).
The undisputed testimony established that plaintiff, an 18-year-old seaman, was chipping rust with a hammer from a blower on the ship’s deck; that he was not wearing goggles; and that as a result of this failure a piece of rust hit his right eye. Plaintiff’s expert witness, Captain Mandrill, testified that chipping is “hazardous” and that the wearing of goggles is necessary in such an operation. He further stated that a good boatswain who observed a man chipping rust without goggles would make him put them on. At trial, Judge Holland found that a ship must provide crew members chipping rust with “goggles for the prevention of injuries to the eye” in order to meet the standard of seaworthiness. Nevertheless he found that this duty had been met, and accordingly gave judgment for defendant. The question *218on this appeal is whether defendant’s steps taken to provide goggles excuse it from liability for unseaworthiness.
It seems very difficult for courts to accustom themselves to the strict liability of unseaworthiness, perhaps because it is cut on such a different pattern than the familiar negligence action. The duty it creates is absolute; the exercise of due care will not discharge this obligation, If an injury occurs as a result of an unseaworthy condition it matters not what efforts the defendant took, or might have taken, to avoid the injury. Blameless he may be; nevertheless he is liable. Mitchell v. Trawler Racer, Inc., 362 U.S. 539, 80 S.Ct. 926, 4 L.Ed.2d 941; Seas Shipping Co. v. Sieracki, 328 U.S. 85, 66 S.Ct. 872, 90 L.Ed. 1099; Van Carpals v. S.S. American Harvester, 2 Cir., 297 F.2d 9. He is liable even if the unseaworthy condition is created by the negligence of the plaintiff. Grillea v. United States, 2 Cir., 232 F.2d 919, 923. As Judge Learned Hand said in that ease: “It may appear strange that a longshoreman, who has the status of a seaman, should be allowed to recover because of unfitness of the ship arising from his own conduct in whole or in part. However, there is in this nothing inconsistent with the nature of the liability because it is imposed regardless of fault; to the prescribed extent the owner is an insurer, though he may have no means of learning of, or correcting, the defect. Indeed, as to these it is a kind of ‘Workmen’s Compensation Act’; though limited by the value of the ship and by the fact that it only covers in- . . ...... _ , p, , , i unes caused by the defects that we have ,. , „ TT ,. , ,. . mentioned. Hence the sole question be- „ , ,. ,. fore us is whether an unseaworthy con- .... ... . ... . :7 dition existed and caused the plaintiffs injury.
Liability for failure to furnish a seaworthy vessel is absolute, but a vessel need not be accident-free to be “seaworthy.” Liability for injuries caused by the vessel and its appurtenances accrues only when the owner has failed to furnish a vessel and appurtenances “reasonably fit for their intended use.” Mitchell v. Trawler Racer, Inc., supra, 362 U.S. 539, 550, 80 S.Ct. 926, 932, 4 L.Ed.2d 941. On the other hand, this does no^ mean> as my brothers seem to believe, that he must make only reasonable efforts to furnish seaworthy appliances. He kas an absolute duty to furnish a reasonably fit ship.
My brothers accept the proposition that a vessel is not seaworthy unless goggles are provided for tasks such as were here involved. Nevertheless they believe that the ship and its appurtenances were “reasonably fit for their intended use,” apparently because steps were taken to make the goggles available. This view confuses the nature- of the obligation, however, because it suggests that liability is limited to defendant’s negligence. It seems to be an attempt to introduce negligence concepts by the back door, as it were, utilizing the rule that a seaworthy ship and its appurtenances need only be “reasonably fit for their intended use” to evade the Supreme Court’s repeated admonitions that “the duty to provide a seaworthy ship depends not at all upon the negligence of the shipowner or his agents.” Mitchell v. Trawler Racer, Inc., supra, 362 U.S. 539, 548, 80 S.Ct. 926, 932, 4 L.Ed.2d 941. See also Pope & Talbot, Inc. v. Hawn, 346 U.S. 406, 74 S.Ct. 202, 98 L.Ed. 143; Alaska S.S. Co. v. Petterson, 347 U.S. 396, 74 S.Ct. 601, 98 L.Ed. 798; Rogers v. United States Lines, 347 U.S. 984, 74 S.Ct. 849, 98 L.Ed. 1120; Boudoin v. Lykes Bros. S.S. Co., 348 U.S. 336, 75 S.Ct. 382, 99 L.Ed. 354.
« s * x-u * • . If the fact that a seaman is not wear-. , . ... mg goggles while engaging m rust-chip-,. .... ping is itself an unseaworthy condition, , , the defendant is liable, whatever steps ., . , in,. ,. , ,. it took, unsuccessfully, to see that they were worn. The precise question whether such a condition is unseaworthiness has never been decided, but the guiding principles are clear. Failure to provide an appliance necessary for safe completion of shipboard operations will render a ship unseaworthy. Poignant v. United States, 2 Cir., 225 F.2d 595; The T. J. Hooper, 2 Cir., 60 F.2d 737, certiorari *219denied Eastern Transportation Co. v. Northern Barge Corp., 287 U.S. 662, 53 S.Ct. 220, 77 L.Ed. 571. See also dissenting opinion of Harlan, J., Mitchell v. Trawler Racer, Inc., supra, 362 U.S. 539, 576, 80 S.Ct. 926, 4 L.Ed.2d 941. If safe appliances are available, moreover, but due to the negligence of plaintiff or a coworker they are not used, the vessel may thereby be rendered unseaworthy. Grillea v. United States, supra, 2 Cir., 232 F.2d 919. And the doctrine is not limited to instances of initial unseaworthiness, but applies to transitory conditions arising in the course of the ship’s operations. Mitchell v. Trawler Racer, Inc., supra, 362 U.S. 539, 80 S.Ct. 926, 4 L.Ed.2d 941.
If a ship furnishes an appliance which cannot be used in a normal manner without a safety device or without certain precautions being taken, then if the device is not furnished or the precautions not taken, the ship is unseaworthy. Krey v. United States, 2 Cir., 123 F.2d 1008 (shipboard shower without handle); Campbell v. Tidewater Associated Oil Co., D.C.S.D.N.Y., 141 F.Supp. 431 (tank with cleats for climbing, but not handrails). Thus, for example, if a ship had on it a pump which sprayed acid in the course of its use, so that it could be safely used only if a movable plastic shield were placed over it, the ship would be unseaworthy if no shield were installed. Even if there were a shield, but the pumpman negligently set it aside, the shipowner, it would seem clear, would be liable if as a result the pumpman was injured.
These principles control this case. I can see no functional difference between the goggles here and the shield in the hypothetical situation. A dangerous condition was created by the fact that a necessary safety appliance was not employed. There is no dispute that the injury would not have occurred had Ezekiel been wearing goggles. Since he did not use them, the further question whether the goggles were “reasonably fit for their intended use” does not arise. Goggles were necessary if rust was to be chipped safely; thus the duty to see that they were used was absolute.
The doctrine of unseaworthiness imposes strict liability in order to promote the taking of greater precaution at sea, because such liability is considered necessary to protect seamen against the special hazards and conditions of maritime service and because the owner “is in position, as the worker is not, to distribute the loss in the shipping community which receives the service and should bear its cost.” Seas Shipping Co. v. Sieracki, supra, 328 U.S. 85, 94, 66 S.Ct. 872, 877, 90 L.Ed. 1099. Liability here fosters all these ends. I must therefore disagree with Judge Holland and my brethren, and hold the ship unseaworthy under current statements of that principle. The judgment should be reversed and the action remanded for the award of damages.