Landers v. Bollinger Amelia Repair, Ltd. Liability Corp.
Landers v. Bollinger Amelia Repair, Ltd. Liability Corp.
Opinion of the Court
This admiralty case requires us to determine whether a maritime status arose between Defendant-Appellee dock owner, Bollinger Amelia Repair, L.L.C. (“BAR”), and Plaintiff-Appellant, Steve D. Landers, when Landers used BAR’S gangway. As no relevant facts or law support a finding that a maritime relationship existed be
The M/V ROSEANNA, an offshore supply boat owned and operated by Kevin Gros Offshore, L.L.C. (“Kevin Gros”), arrived at a BAR dock on June 12, 2006, after its starboard stern hull next to its water tank was punctured by an offshore platform.
Landers then filed suit against Kevin Gros, and later added BAR as a defendant claiming BAR was negligent under maritime law for failing to provide a safe gangway. Landers settled his claims against Kevin Gros. The district court granted BAR’s motion for summary judgment, holding that BAR did not have a maritime relationship with Landers, and that any claim under Louisiana law had expired under the one-year statute of limitations for tort claims. The district court denied Plaintiffs Motion to Re-Open Case and Motion for New Trial. Landers timely filed a Notice of Appeal of the district court’s order denying his motion to reopen the case.
Though Landers specifically appealed only the district court’s judgment denying his motion to re-open the case in his Notice of Appeal, a denial which we would review for abuse of discretion, Landers argues that he intended to appeal the district court’s grant of BAR’s motion for summary judgment and consequent dismissal of his complaint. A party must designate each judgment he appeals, Fed. R.App. P. 3(c)(1)(B), but “[w]e will liberally construe such notices where the intent to appeal an unmentioned or mislabeled ruling is apparent and there is no prejudice to the adverse party.” Choate v. Potter, 349 Fed.Appx. 927, 929 (5th Cir. 2009) (citing C.A. May Marine Supply Co. v. Brunswick Corp., 649 F.2d 1049, 1056 (5th Cir. July 1981)). “When the appellant clearly intends to appeal from the underlying
“We review a grant of summary judgment de novo, applying the same legal standard as the district court.” Croft v. Governor of Tex., 562 F.3d 735, 742 (5th Cir. 2009) (internal quotations omitted). Summary judgment should be rendered if the record demonstrates that “there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and that the movant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law.” Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(c)(2). “An issue is material if its resolution could affect the outcome of the action.” Daniels v. City of Arlington, 246 F.3d 500, 502 (5th Cir. 2001). “In deciding whether a fact issue has been created, the court must view the facts and the inferences to be drawn therefrom in the light most favorable to the nonmoving party.” Id.
Landers argues that by requiring docked ships to use BAR’s gangways, BAR “stepped into the vessel owner’s shoes and, as a result, [ ] assumed a maritime duty to provide a gangway free from hidden defects,” under “general maritime negligence law.” Appellant’s Br. at 20, 22.
“It is well-established that maritime law encompasses the gangway. It is also well-established that a vessel owner has a ‘fundamental duty to provide its crew members with a reasonably safe means of boarding and departing from the vessel.” Florida Fuels v. Citgo Petroleum Corp., 6 F.3d 330, 332 (5th Cir. 1993) (internal citations omitted). “Under general maritime law, a vessel owner has ‘an absolute nondelegable duty to provide a seaworthy vessel’ to crew members.” Id. (quoting Brister v. A.W.I. Inc., 946 F.2d 350, 355 (5th Cir. 1991)). This duty is irrespective of “ ‘fault or the use of due care.’ ” Id. (quoting Brister, 946 F.2d at 355). “The idea of
We are unconvinced by Landers’ argument that BAR’S gangway policy gives it a maritime relationship with Landers. As a preliminary matter, we note that in this case there is no summary judgment evidence that BAR played a role in the M/V ROSEANNA’s crew members’ use of BAR’s gangway. In fact, it is undisputed that there was no useable and accessible gangway aboard the M/V ROSEANNA, and thus Kevin Gros’s employees could not possibly have used their own gangway. There is no evidence that anyone other than Landers and Horne, both Kevin Gros employees, set up or removed the BAR gangway. Additionally, a Kevin Gros employee inspected the gangway before its use.
Next, Landers does not cite any cases that stand for his proposition that a dock owner may step into the role of the shipowner and trigger maritime tort liability by requiring use of one of its gangways. Instead, Landers asks us to apply the “ ‘Good Samaritan’ rule,” Appellant’s Br. at 22, that “[o]ne who undertakes ... to render services to another ... is subject to liability to the other for physical harm resulting from his failure to exercise reasonable care to perform his undertaking,” if certain conditions are met. Restatement (Second) of Torts § 323. Landers fails to explain how this principle triggers maritime liability rather than negligence liability under state law, however. This principle provides no basis to apply maritime law in this case.
In any case, because a shipowner’s duty to provide a gangway to his crew members falls under his absolute duty to provide a seaworthy vessel to them, the logical conclusion of Landers’ argument that by requiring use of its gangway BAR has stepped into the role of shipowner, is that BAR has acquired the absolute duty of providing a seaworthy gangway to Landers. But, the law is clear that the seaworthiness doctrine is limited to vessel owners or operators, and thus would not apply in this case. See Daniels, 317 F.2d at 43 (“The refusal of the District Court to apply the doctrine to hold a husbanding agent, not the employer of the seaman and who did not operate and control the vessel at the time of the injury was affirmed in Romero v. International Terminal Operating Company, 358 U.S. 354, 79 S.Ct. 468, 3 L.Ed.2d 368 (1959).”). Landers’ attempt to avoid this result by concluding that by having a policy requiring use of a BAR gangway, BAR acquired the duty of providing a safe gangway under general maritime negligence law, is not based in law or logic, and thus we reject it.
Additionally, Landers’ argument would require us to ignore our established precedent that a dock owner does not have a general maritime duty to provide a crew member with a means of boarding and departing from the ship; such a duty does not exist between a “dock owner toward a
As we find that the district court properly granted summary judgment to BAR, we also find that the district court properly denied Landers relief under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 59(e), as Landers did not present any newly discovered evidence or demonstrate a manifest error of fact or law in his motion to re-open the case.
For the foregoing reasons, the opinion of the district court is AFFIRMED.
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.
. We will assume that BAR did own this dock, viewing the facts in the light most favorable to the non-moving party. See R. at 134-35.
. Landers asserts that a BAR employee may have placed the gangway between the dock and vessel, but this representation is contrary to the sworn testimony of Horne. R. at 863-64 ("[Landers and I] put it-if I remember right ... I don't remember nobody else helping us do that”). The testimony of BAR's 30(b)(6) representative, which Landers cites as evidence that a BAR employee may have placed the gangway, in fact indicates that a BAR employee did not personally place the gangway since "[a]s a rule [BAR] use[s] extended-boom forklifts and cranes to move and set [its] gangways in place.” R. at 2647.
. We reject BAR's contention that Landers waived the argument that BAR acquired a maritime status with Landers because he failed to present it to the district court. Rather, we believe that Landers did make this argument before the district court as this argument was one of the primary arguments that the district court addressed. See R. at 3038-40.
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