U.S. Supreme Court rules in new Decision on a Jones Act seaman's right to maintenance and cure

As previously discussed on our blog, the US Supreme Court had pending before it a case which would clarify the availability of punitive damages with regard to maintenance and cure for seamen.  Just days ago, the Court handed down its decision on this issue.

In Atlantic Sounding Co. v. Townsend, 2009 WL 1789469 (U.S. June 25, 2009), the high court held: "Because punitive damages have long been an accepted remedy under general maritime law, and because nothing in the Jones Act altered this understanding, such damages for the willful and wanton disregard of the maintenance and cure obligation should remain available in the appropriate case as a matter of general maritime law.  Limiting recovery for maintenance and cure to whatever is permitted by the Jones Act would give greater pre-emptive effect to the Act than is required by its text, Miles [v. Apex Marine Corp., 498 U.S. 19 (1990], or any of this Court's other decisions interpreting the statute."  

Matt Shaffer and Dennis McElwee, Partners of SMSH, have extensive experience obtaining large maritime and Jones Act settlements and jury awards, including hundreds of cases involving maintenance and cure.

Labels: Admiralty general maritime law Jones Act Maintenance and Cure Maritime Punitive Damages Sailor Seaman Seamen Supreme Court

May a seaman recover punitive damages for the willful failure to pay maintenance and cure?

Authors for the Cornell University Law School Legal Information Institute did an excellent job of presenting the legal issues in the case currently pending before the U.S. Supreme Court concerning maintenance and cure under the Jones Act.  They conclude that whether the Supreme Court will decide to allow the recovery of punitive damages for willful failure of a maritime employer to provide maintenance and cure, or whether it will side current caselaw in the interest of maintaining consistency of remedies under general maritime law. To reach its ultimate conclusion, the Court will have to determine whether older maritime cases merely set forth an ancient right, or whether they defined the boundaries of remedies in maintenance and cure cases.

This decision will also clarify whether Vaughn v. Atkinson shows a seaman should be fully compensated for his losses, decided on the facts of the particular case, or an expansion compensatory damages for willful failure to provide maintenance and cure. The Court will also have to define the scope of the Jones Act uniformity - whether a uniform body of maritime law is required for all issues related to the Jones Act and the Death on the High Seas Act. 

The Court's ultimate decision in this case will have substantial ramifications for seamen.

Labels: Jones Act Maintenance and Cure Seaman Seamen Supreme Court

Texas Supreme Court dismisses lawsuit vs. Waco in Cameron Park death

The Supreme Court of Texas ruled Friday that the city of Waco cannot be sued in the 2004 death of a McLennan Community College baseball player who fell to his death from a Cameron Park cliff.  The decision reverses a January 2008 ruling by Waco's 10th Court of Appeals that said Debra Kirwan, mother of Brad McGehee, could sue the city for wrongful death.

Kirwan, of Belton, filed the lawsuit in 2005 after her 20-year-old son, an all-state shortstop and a sophomore, fell about 60 feet to his death while watching boat races from the edge of Circle Point Cliff in Cameron Park.

The Supreme Court held that under the recreational use statute, the city, which erected barricades and put up warning signs near the sheer park cliffs, had no duty to warn or protect visitors from "a naturally occurring condition."  The Court ruled that while the crumbling of a large section of the cliff was not necessarily foreseeable, "the general risk of a cliff's edge is." The court noted that loose rocks and cracks in the cliff would have been visible to park patrons.

The ruling will most likely affect a lawsuit pending in Waco's 74th State District Court that was filed against the city by the parents of Baylor University student Brandon Palady who also fell to his death from Circle Point in February 2006.

If you or someone you know has been injured or killed due to the negligence of another party, please contact the attorneys of Schechter, McElwee, Shaffer & Harris, LLP for a free evaluation of your case at (800) 282-2122.

Labels: Supreme Court Texas Waco Wrongful Death