In re Antill Pipeline Constr. Co.

866 F.Supp.2d 563

In the Matter of the Complaint of ANTILL PIPELINE CONSTRUCTION CO., INC. as Owner of the Barge LML 103 and M/V Ruth R. and as Alleged Charterer of the Barge GD 897 for Exoneration from or Limitation of Liability.

Civil Action No. 09–3646.

United States District Court, E.D. Louisiana.

Dec. 5, 2011.

Thomas Kent Ledyard Morrison, Colin B. Cambre, Phelps Dunbar, LLP, New Orleans, LA, for Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. 10–2633; as Bareboat Charterer/Owner Pro Hac Vice of the GD 897, for Exoneration from or Limitation of Liability.

Robert Seth Reich, Francis A. Jurovich, III, Lawrence R. Plunkett, Jr., Reich, Album & Plunkett, LLC, Metairie, LA, for Antill Pipeline Construction Company, Inc. as Owner of the Barge LML 103 and M/V Ruth R, and as Alleged Charterer of the Barge GD 897 for Exoneration from or Limitation of Liability.

ORDER AND REASONS

HELEN G. BERRIGAN, District Judge.

This matter is before the Court on motion for partial summary judgment by Antill Pipeline Construction Co., Inc., as owner of the Barge LML 10 and M/V RUTH R (“Petitioner”) seeking that the Court find that the estates and heirs of the driver(s) of a recreational fishing vessel who died in an allusion with Petitioner's barge and tug units, which were located within Louisiana navigable waters, are statutorily barred from recovering damages. Rec. Doc. 249. Primarily, Petitioner moves the Court to determine whether La.Rev.Stat. § 9:2798.4, which prohibits recovery by the estate of the operator of a watercraft who is: (1) found to have driven while his blood alcohol concentration was of 0.08 percent or more, (2) found to be in excess of twenty-five percent negligent as a result, and (3) whose negligence is found to be a contributing factor to the damage, may be applied, as opposed to the fault allocation method prescribed by general maritime law.¹ Rec. Doc. 249. While the parties do not dispute that general maritime law applies to the instant case, Petitioner argues that the Louisiana state statute may be applied to this action as well. Id. Having considered the record, the memoranda, and the law, the Court concludes, for the reasons stated below, that as a matter of law La.Rev.Stat. § 9:2798.4 cannot be applied in a maritime wrongful death action, and accordingly the heirs and estate of the operator of the watercraft are not preemptively barred from recovery of damages.

I. BACKGROUND

Petitioner filed this complaint under the Shipowners' Limitation of Liability Act, 46 U.S.C.App. § 30501 et seq. (formerly 46 U.S.C. § 181 et seq.) to exonerate or limit damages payable to the decedents' representatives. Rec. Doc. 1. Relatives and the estates representing the deceased craft operator(s) and passengers filed answers and complaints against Petitioner pursuant to the Court's Order dated May 26, 2009. Rec. Doc. 3; Rec. Docs. 13, 24, 27. Claimants seek pecuniary, nonpecuniary, and punitive damages on behalf of the decedents, as well as the decedents' spouses and children under applicable general maritime and/or Louisiana law. Id. Petitioner has moved for partial summary judgment in its favor, based on its contention that the operator of the boat is statutorily barred from recovery of damage, and the passengers are comparatively at fault. Rec. Doc. 249–1 at 19.

At the outset, the Court finds that the issue as to which Claimant was operating the watercraft at the time of the accident is an unsettled and disputed question of fact. Discovery is still ongoing. The Court considered simply dismissing Petitioner's motion as premature. However, it has determined that a preliminary determination of the applicability of La.Rev.Stat. § 9:2798.4 and Louisiana law may facilitate the orderly disposition of this matter.

In the memorandum and supplemental memorandum supporting their motion for partial summary judgment, Petitioner argues that Louisiana Revised Statute § 9:2798.4 may be applied in this case. Rec. Docs. 249–1, 262–2. If the Louisiana statute were to be applied here in force, it could statutorily bar the operator of the watercraft which alluded with Petitioner's barge and tug units from recovery. La.Rev.Stat. § 9:2798.4 provides, in pertinent part:

A. Neither the state, a state agency, or a political subdivision of the state nor any person shall be liable for damages, including those available under Civil Code Article 2315.1 or 2315.2, for injury, death, or loss of the operator of a motor vehicle, aircraft, watercraft, or vessel who:

(1) Was operating a motor vehicle, aircraft, watercraft, or vessel while his blood alcohol concentration of 0.08 percent or more by weight based on grams of alcohol per one hundred cubic centimeters of blood ...

B. The provisions of this Section shall not apply unless:

(1) The operator is found to be in excess of twenty-five percent negligent as a result of a blood alcohol concentration in excess of the limits provided in R.S. 14:98(A)(1)(b) ... and

(2) This negligence was a contributing factor causing the damage.

C. For purposes of this Section, “damages” include all general damages, including those otherwise recoverable in a survival or wrongful death action, which may be recoverable for personal injury, death or loss, or damage to property by the operator of a motor vehicle, aircraft, watercraft, or vessel or the category of persons who would have a cause of action for the operator's wrongful death.

In opposition, Claimants argue that the Louisiana statute, which would serve as a total bar to recovery by the operator of the watercraft, may not be applied in the instant action because the allusion occurred on Louisiana territorial waters, and thus the federal general maritime law's settled liability allocation doctrine of comparative fault should be applied solely, preempting application of the Louisiana statute which would, in barring recovery by the boat's operator, disrupt the use of maritime law comparative fault liability allocation. Rec. Doc. 260 at 4–9; Rec. Doc. 255–1 at 16–20; Rec. Doc. 283 at 1–8.

II. LAW & ANALYSIS

A. EVOLUTION OF WRONGFUL DEATH AS A CAUSE OF ACTION UNDER GENERAL MARITIME LAW

Prior to the Supreme Court's decision in Moragne v. States Marine Lines, Inc. 398 U.S. 375, 90 S.Ct. 1772, 26 L.Ed.2d 339 (1970), no federal maritime cause of action was recognized for the wrongful death of a non-seaman who was killed in state territorial waters, less than three nautical miles from shore, and whose circumstances were not covered by his state's wrongful death statute. At the time, representatives of a person killed at sea could seek damages under (1) the Death on the High Seas Act (“DOHSA”), 46 U.S.C. §§ 30302–30303 for the death of any person killed more then three nautical miles from shore; (2) the Jones Act, 46 U.S.C. § 30104, for the death of a seaman killed in any waters when the death was caused by the negligence of the seaman's employer; or (3) a state wrongful death statute, for the death of a person who died in territorial waters in circumstances covered by the statute. The Supreme Court in Moragne held for the first time that an action for wrongful death is available under the general maritime law “for death caused by violation of maritime duties.” Id. at 1777. Later, the Court in Norfolk Shipbuilding & Drydock Corp. v. Garris, 532 U.S. 811, 121 S.Ct. 1927, 150 L.Ed.2d 34, 2001 AMC 1817 (2001) held that the general maritime wrongful death action that was recognized in Moragne is also available for wrongful death based upon negligent breach of a maritime duty of care. Id. at 820, 121 S.Ct. 1927. In effect, the newly created Moragne action substituted state wrongful death statutes, placing the action within the area of admiralty jurisdiction. The Moragne cause of action is principally utilized today as a remedy for representatives of passengers and other non-seamen who are killed in non-DOHSA admiralty jurisdiction, such as the Claimants in the case at bar.

B. APPLICATION OF A STATE LAW WHICH DENIES REMEDY TO HEIRS AND ESTATE OF DECEASED IN MARITIME WRONGFUL DEATH ACTIONS IS NOT SUPPORTED BY THE HOLDING OF YAMAHA MOTOR CORP. v. CALHOUN

Petitioner argues in its Supplemental Memorandum in Support of Antill's Motion of Partial Summary Judgment that, as a question of law, Louisiana Revised Statute § 9:2798.4 is controlling, and is not preempted by general maritime law. Rec. Doc. 262–2 at 2. It argues that the Supreme Court's holding in Yamaha Motor Corp. v. Calhoun, 516 U.S. 199, 116 S.Ct. 619, 133 L.Ed.2d 578(1996) supports that contention. Rec. Doc. 262–2 at 2–3. In Yamaha, the Court held that when a non-seafarer is killed within state territorial waters, the remedies applicable under the general maritime law may, under certain circumstances, be supplemented by state law remedies. Yamaha, 516 U.S. at 214–16, 116 S.Ct. 619. Petitioner argues that this holding should be interpreted to allow the Louisiana statute in question, which could deny all recovery to the operator of the watercraft who is found to have been under the influence of alcohol, to be applied to the Claimant's wrongful death action. For the foregoing reasons, the Court does not agree.

In Yamaha, a young girl was killed in a jet-ski accident in territorial waters, and her parents sued the jet-ski manufacturer under Pennsylvania's wrongful death and survival statutes. Id. at 202, 116 S.Ct. 619. The Supreme Court found that, in light of the “humane and liberal character of admiralty proceedings recognized in Moragne,” that state remedies remain applicable in such cases. Id. (internal quotations omitted). The Court further noted that “Moragne, in sum, centered on the extension of relief, not on the contraction of remedies.” Id. at 213, 116 S.Ct. 619. Since Yamaha, it has become settled that, in many cases, state law remedies can be accessed and applied by plaintiffs in non-seaman wrongful death actions to supplement those provided by federal maritime law. See, e.g., Felarise v. Cheramie Marine, L.L.C., 2010...