Court Opinion

ID: 9423218
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-02 23:06:34.245209+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:22:42.977845
License: Public Domain

Mr. Justice Harlan,
whom Mr. Justice Stewart joins,
dissenting.
In my opinion a course of legal history, reflecting both decisions of this Court and congressional enactments, *167precludes the interpretation that is now placed on the Suits in Admiralty Act, 41 Stat. 525, as amended, 46 U. S. C. § 741 et seq. (1964 ed.).
I.
The Suits in Admiralty Act was enacted in 1920 to deal with problems created by the formation of a large government-owned merchant fleet during World War I. The Act established a method to sue the United States in admiralty that would protect the interests of libellants while at the same time prevent in rem attachments of government vessels during a possible emergency. See S. Rep. No. 223, 66th Cong., 1st Sess. (1919); H. R. Rep. No. 497, 66th Cong., 2d Sess. (1919); 58 Cong. Rec. 7317 (1919); 59 Cong. Rec. 1684-1688 (1920). Although the creation of this statutory procedure for suits in admiralty was occasioned by particular needs, the early cases, discussed below, held unmistakably, first, that the Act provided the exclusive admiralty remedy against the United States, and, second, that it was exclusive of all other remedies affording relief for an underlying claim cognizable in admiralty.
The Suits in Admiralty Act provides the procedure for suits against the United States or a government-owned corporation “[i]n cases where if such vessel were privately owned or operated, or if such cargo were privately owned or possessed, or if a private person or property were involved, a proceeding in admiralty could be maintained . . . .” 46 U. S. C. § 742. A narrow construction of the statute was unanimously rejected in Eastern Transp. Co. v. United States, 272 U. S. 675, where the Court held that the Act made the Government amenable to any cause of action in admiralty, in rem or in per-sonam, to which a private owner would be liable. 272 U. S., at 690. This view was reiterated and reinforced in Fleet Corp. v. Rosenberg Bros., 276 U. S. 202. There *168the libellants sued the government-owned Fleet Corporation in admiralty. The cause was time-barred under the Suits in Admiralty Act, but the respondents argued that the remedy provided by the Act did not preclude a nonstatutory suit in admiralty against the public corporation. The Court held that the Act provided the exclusive admiralty remedy against the United States or its agencies. It left open, however, the question whether “the Act also prevents a resort to any concurrent remedies against the United States ... on like causes of action in the Court of Claims or in courts of law . . . .” 276 U. S., at 214.
This reservation was laid at rest in Johnson v. Fleet Corp., 280 U. S. 320. There four cases were consolidated: two involved seamen’s allegations of negligence; the third alleged breach of contract affecting cargo; the fourth alleged loss of cargo due to negligence. The suits were barred by the Suits in Admiralty statute of limitations, but it was argued that Tucker Act and common-law remedies were still available. The Court held squarely for the Government in spite of well-briefed arguments and some support from legislative history that the admiralty jurisdiction was not meant to be exclusive in such cases.1 Reviewing the structure of the Act and basic congressional intent, the Court stated that the Act’s purposes would not be served “if suits under the Tucker Act and in the Court of Claims be allowed against the United States and actions at law in state and federal courts be permitted against the Fleet Corporation or *169other agents for enforcement of the maritime causes of action covered by the Act.” 280 U. S., at 327. The Court concluded “that the remedies given by the Act are exclusive in all cases where a libel might be filed under it.” Ibid.
This interpretation of the Suits in Admiralty Act was subsequently recognized and ultimately adopted by the Congress, which on various occasions has amended the Act or passed supporting legislation premised on the exclusivity of the Act over all claims that might be heard in admiralty. Soon after the Johnson case, supra, was decided, the Congress acted to mitigate its effects on those who were barred by its two-year limitation. In an Act of June 30, 1932, 47 Stat. 420, § 5 of the Suits in Admiralty Act was amended to waive the two-year period for suitors who had filed timely actions elsewhere before the Johnson decision.2 In 1950, in order to eliminate any remaining confusion, § 5 was again amended to codify the Johnson rule as applied to government agents, namely, “[t]hat where a remedy is provided by . . . [the Suits in Admiralty Act] it shall hereafter be exclusive of any other action by reason of the same subject matter against the agent or employee of the United States . . . .” 64 Stat. 1112, 46 U. S. C. § 745 (1964 ed). *170See S. Rep. No. 2535, 81st Cong., 2d Sess. (1950), quoted in note 2, supra; H. R. Rep. No. 1292, 81st Cong., 1st Sess. (1949).
The statutes affecting the Court of Claims directly were also altered by Congress to conform with the basic structure of the exclusive admiralty jurisdiction. In 1948 the Tucker Act was amended to strike the word “admiralty” from the scope of that court’s jurisdiction. Act of June 25, 1948, c. 646, 62 Stat. 940, 28 U. S. C. § 1491 (1964 ed.).3 In 1960, an Act was passed to facilitate transfers of admiralty actions from the Court of Claims to the federal district courts and to toll the running of the statute of limitations in such cases so that litigants who sued, incorrectly, in the Court of Claims would not be required to file a new suit in the district court which might by then be time-barred. Act of September 13, 1960, 74 Stat. 912, 28 U. S. C. § 1506 (1964 ed.). Recognition of the exclusive admiralty jurisdiction of the district courts prompted enactment of this statute. See H. R. Rep. No. 523, 86th Cong., 1st Sess. (1959); S. Rep. No. 1894, 86th Cong., 2d Sess. (1960).
II.
This survey of case law and statutory development indicates quite clearly that the jurisdiction of the district courts is exclusive in actions falling within the purview of the Suits in Admiralty Act, and that the test for determining whether an action falls within that class is whether “a libel might be filed under [the Act],” Johnson v. Fleet Corp., supra, at 327, or in the words of the statute directly, whether “if such vessel were privately *171owned or operated ... a proceeding in admiralty could be maintained.” 46 U. S. C. § 742.
Until today the basic test for the Act’s applicability has been a familiar historical one, for the statutory term “proceeding in admiralty” is quite obviously coextensive with its meaning in ordinary legal usage. In the case now before us, the question for the Court is whether the claim for back wages by these seamen would be heard by an admiralty court if their employer were a private person. The answer is clearly in the affirmative, see Sheppard v. Taylor, 5 Pet. 675; Kossick v. United Fruit Co., 365 U. S. 731, 735. It is stated in 1 Benedict, The Law of American Admiralty 124 (6th ed. Knauth 1940): “The mariners of a ship are commonly said to be wards of the admiralty. Their wages, their rights, their wrongs and injuries have always been a special subject of the admiralty jurisdiction.” It is true that the claim against a private employer might also be litigated in a common-law court, see Leon v. Galceran, 11 Wall. 185; 1 Benedict, supra, at 35. But the fact that there is concurrent jurisdiction over such a claim in private litigation is irrelevant for purposes of a suit against the sovereign, for as shown above, the Suits in Admiralty Act is exclusive over any action which “could be maintained” in admiralty. This is indubitably such a claim.
III.
The Court, while recognizing “that the Suits in Admiralty Act specifically repealed the Tucker Act so far as the two conflicted,” ante, p. 163, avoids the result compelled by prior interpretation of the Suits in Admiralty Act and conventional admiralty law, by formulating a new test for the statute’s applicability. Instead of asking whether this suit is one traditionally within the scope of admiralty jurisdiction, it sees the interrelation of the Tucker Act and the Suits in Admiralty Act as requiring an inquiry *172into the question whether the petitioners are more like federal employees than like mariners, and after weighing the factors involved concludes that they are more civil servants than seafarers. I believe this test presents a false basis for determining whether or not exclusive jurisdiction lies in admiralty and puts a mischievous gloss on the relevant statutes.
Obviously these petitioners are both federal employees and seamen. One label refers to their employer; the other to the type of work they perform. This dual classification might well be made of the status of employees in many private industries. A large corporation might have thousands of employees, some of whom are employed in maritime activities. Because of the evolution of our legal system these maritime employees can sue their employer in an admiralty court as well as at law; their land-based co-workers do not have that option. The fact that the contracts, pension rights, and other benefits and obligations may be similar for both types of employees is irrelevant for purposes of defining the admiralty court’s jurisdiction over the claims of these maritime employees. Cf. The Steam-Boat Thomas Jefferson, 10 Wheat. 428; International Stevedoring Co. v. Haverty, 272 U. S. 50. The position of federal maritime employees should be no different. The argument of the Court showing that in many respects the rights of federal employees who are seamen are similar to the rights of federal employees who are not seamen, whatever its merits on its own terms, see Part IV, infra, does not negate the fact that the claims of these seamen are within the traditional scope of the admiralty jurisdiction. See McCrea v. United States, 294 U. S. 23, a claim for wages, inter alia, under the Suits in Admiralty Act.
Not only is the Court’s approach based upon a false yardstick, but it contrives an impracticable test for applying a jurisdictional statute. The rule heretofore *173used for the application of the Suits in Admiralty Act has been that, absent any clear statutory exception,4 it encompasses any claim that could have been brought before an admiralty court were the defendant a private shipper. Since the scope of the admiralty jurisdiction is long established and generally well understood, suitors would normally know in what forum their cases should be brought. The Court’s new test for determining the proper forum is whether the underlying cause of action is primarily of “a maritime nature.” As the Court’s opinion indicates, this inquiry can be resolved only after what in many instances will be a complicated and elusive process. Indeed, in this case, only after several pages of analysis is the Court able to determine that “with respect to these wage claims, Congress thought of these petitioners more as government employees who happened to be seamen than as seamen who by chance worked for the Government,” ante, p. 163. Putting aside the fact that there is nothing to show that Congress ever contemplated such a “jurisdictional” standard, replacing the straightforward “admiralty jurisdiction” test by the unpredictable “primarily of a maritime nature” rule is bound to introduce confusion and uncertainty into determinations of the appropriateness of a particular forum, the very type of question that should have a reasonably definitive answer.
IV.
The Court quite obviously construes the Act as it does because it is reluctant to deprive federally employed seamen of the longer statute of limitations available under *174the Tucker Act. Apart from anything else, this can be accomplished, however, only at the expense of forfeiting other substantial advantages available under the Suits in Admiralty Act.
First, an admiralty court is likely to be better acquainted with many underlying questions involved in suits such as these, and to be more sensitive to the tradition that seamen are the “wards of the admiralty.” For example, the Classification Act of 1949, 63 Stat. 954, as amended, 5 U. S. C. § 1082 (8) (1964 ed.), provides that federally employed crew members shall be compensated “as nearly as is consistent with the public interest in accordance with prevailing rates and practices in the maritime industry . . . .” One of the suits consolidated in this action raises the question of overtime payment for “port watch tours of duty,” and the petitioner, citing the Classification Act, alleges that “prevailing rates” in the trade require “16 hours at overtime rates per 24 hour port watch tour of duty.” Another complaint involves, inter alia, a naval rule regarding lunch periods where, due to the nature of the work, “it may not be administratively desirable to allow a specified period of time off for lunch.” Navy Civilian Personnel Instruction 610.2-lk. Questions involving such subject matter are best heard in admiralty.5
Second, venue under the Tucker Act, for suits over $10,000 and all suits involving pension rights, is limited to the Court of Claims. 28 U. S: C. § 1346 (a), (d) (1964 ed.). Three of the four suits consolidated here are above the $10,000 limit, and thus can only be brought *175in the District of Columbia. Of these three cases, two involve naval facilities at Fort Lauderdale, Florida. The interests of most maritime employees of the United States would probably be better served by allowing the more favorable venue provisions in admiralty.6
Third, interest provisions under the Suits in Admiralty Act are more favorable than under the Tucker Act. Under the latter statute interest runs at most from the date of judgment, 28 U. S. C. §§ 2411 (b), 2516 (1964 ed.), while in admiralty the court may award interest from the date the libel is filed. 46 U. S. C. §§ 743, 745 (1964 ed.). Greater court costs may also be awarded in admiralty. Compare 46 U. S. C. § 743 with 28 U. S. C. §2412 (b) (1964 ed.).
Because of the Court’s ruling today, all of these benefits are lost to all federally employed seamen, not merely to those involved in this case. The untoward results to which this decision leads in themselves engender the most serious misgivings as to the soundness of the Court’s ruling, albeit it may be thought to produce a beneficent result in this particular instance.
I would affirm the judgment of the Court of Claims.

 Legislative history bearing on this aspect of the question is meager, although one colloquy during the House Committee on the Judiciary hearings on this bill suggests that concurrent jurisdiction with the Court of Claims might have been contemplated in certain situations. Hearing before the House Committee on the Judiciary on the Attorney General’s Substitute for S. 3076 and H. R. 7124, 66th Cong., 1st Sess., ser. 8, at 48 (1919).

 Again in 1950 Congress extended the limitations period to accommodate those employees who, in reliance upon a prior decision, Hust v. Moore-McCormack Lines. 328 U. S. 707, overruled in Cosmopolitan Co. v. McAllister, 337 U. S. 783, had not filed suit against the United States under the Suits in Admiralty Act for a tort committed when a government-owned ship was being operated by a private company as general agent for the Government. 64 Stat. 1112, 46 U. S. C. §745 (1964 ed.). The Senate report noted that “[t]o prevent future repetition of such mistakes the bill expressly restates the existing law that the remedy by suit against the United States is exclusive of every other type of action by reason of the same subject matter against the United States or against its employees or agents.” S. Rep. No. 2535, 81st Cong., 2d Sess., 1 (1950).

 The House report noted: “the Court of Claims has no admiralty jurisdiction, but the Suits in Admiralty Act . . . vests exclusive jurisdiction over suits in admiralty against the United States in the district courts.” H. R. Rep. No. 308, 80th Cong., 1st Sess., App. p. 138 (1947).

 Compare Johansen v. United States, 343 U. S. 427, and Patterson v. United States, 359 U. S. 495, in which it was held that the Federal Employees’ Compensation Act of 1916, 39 Stat. 742, 5 U. S. C. §751 et seq. (1964 ed.), provided the sole remedy for seamen injured on board government-owned vessels, thus barring suits under the Suits in Admiralty Act.

 The Court’s argument that this factor is offset by the peculiar expertise of the Court of Claims with respect to the nonmaritime components of government seamen wage claims is not persuasive. District courts, too, possess such expertise, born of their concurrent jurisdiction with the Court of Claims in government contract actions involving less than $10,000. 28 U. S. C. § 1346 (a) (1964 ed.).

 46 U. S. C. § 742 provides that suits under the Suits in Admiralty Act “shall be brought in the district court of the United States for the district in which the parties so suing, or any of them, reside or have their principal place of business in the United States, or in which the vessel or cargo charged with liability is found.”