Court Opinion

ID: 27641
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2010-04-25 09:10:44+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T09:38:02.944952
License: Public Domain

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
                               FOR THE FIFTH CIRCUIT

                                   ______________________

                                        No. 01-30332
                                   SUMMARY CALENDAR
                                   ______________________

                                     CARLOS ARBOLEDA
                                                                               Plaintiff-Appellant,

                                               V.

                       ELMWOOD MARINE SERVICES, INC., ET AL,
                                                                                      Defendants,

           RIVER BARGE CLEANING, INC., A&A BARGE CLEANING,
    ODYSSEY RE (LONDON) LTD., formerly known as Sphere Drake Insurance PLC;
   DENNIS K. WELLS, NAPOLEON WHITE, LEO POWERS, RAYFIELD LEWIS, JR.,
  RAYFIELD LEWIS, AARON WILLIAMS, FOSTER LEWIS, AARON ADAMS, IRVING
                        MORRIS, also known as Blue,
                                                                   Defendants-
                                Appellees.

______________________________________________________________________________

                     Appeal from the United States District Court
                         for the Eastern District of Louisiana
                                   98-CV-1268-C
______________________________________________________________________________
                                     June 3, 2002

Before REYNALDO G. GARZA, SMITH, and PARKER, Circuit Judges.

REYNALDO G. GARZA, Circuit Judge:1

       Plaintiff Carlos Arbodela, a contract welder employed through L’Homme, Inc. to work for

Elmwood Barge, was injured while climbing out of a hopper barge on April 27, 1995. Plaintiff

       1
        Pursuant to 5th Cir. R. 47.5, the Court has determined that this opinion should not be
published and is not precedent except under the limited circumstances set forth in 5th Cir. R.
47.5.4.
claims that an employee of River Barge Cleaning, Inc., removed a rope securing the ladder to the

barge, thus causing Plaintiff to fall over twenty-two feet. Prior to trial, Elmwood was dismissed

from the suit, without opposition, under the borrowed servant doctrine. Following a bench trial

on the merits, the trial court found in favor of Defendants River Barge Cleaning, Inc. (River

Barge), A&A Barge Cleaning (A&A), and Sphere Drake Limited (f/k/a Odyssey Re (London)

Limited). Specifically, the court found that River Barge and A&A were borrowed servants of

Elmwood, thus precluding Plaintiff from recovering from them.

       Having reviewed the record and the briefs, we AFFIRM the district court’s opinion

dismissing Plaintiff’s claims with prejudice, which is attached hereto as Appendix A.

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