The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans has unanimously affirmed a district court's ruling that a sea captain is entitled to more than $11 million in lost future earnings after he was injured tripping over a stair in a hatch door. The case is Rivera v. Kirby Offshore Marine L.L.C. No. 19-40799, 2020 U.S. App. LEXIS 40163 (5th Cir. Dec. 22, 2020).
From June 2007 to July 2018, Captain Jay Rivera was a state-commissioned Branch Pilot for the Port Aransas Bar and Corpus Christi Bay. Through July 2018, he was a member of the Aransas-Corpus Christi Pilots Association (Association), an unincorporated pilots association that regulates the rules and procedures of licensed pilots acting on the Port Aransas Bar and the surrounding tributaries. The Association also collects fees earned by the members, uses the fees in a common fund, and makes pro rata distributions to its members.
In August, 2016 Captain Rivera was dispatched to pilot the M/V Tarpon, a 120-foot seagoing vessel, which was indirectly owned and operated by Kirby Offshore Marine, L.L.C. (Kirby). While aboard the Tarpon, Captain Rivera was being escorted to the wheelhouse when he stepped into a hatch access door that was not well illuminated, rolled his ankle and fell. When he was injured, he was wearing sunglasses. After he was injured, he received ibuprofen and ice, reported the injury to the Tarpon's captain, and later piloted the Tarpon to its intended destination.
After he exited the Tarpon, he sought medical treatment for his injury. Doctors confirmed that he had fractured a metatarsal of his foot, and placed him in an air cast. Captain Rivera experienced lingering injuries during the recovery and was eventually diagnosed with Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS). He was declared medically unfit to maintain his mariner certification due to his condition. His injuries prevented him from continuing to work as a harbor pilot, and he sued Kirby under various maritime laws for negligence and vessel seaworthiness, and for the negligently maintained vessel under the Longshore Harbor Workers' Compensation Act.
The district court determined that Captain Rivera was not an employee of Kirby and that his injuries were not compensable under the LHWCA, found that the boat was unseaworthy and that Rivera was entitled to past and future harbor pilot wages and awarded him over $11 million in lost future earnings.
On appeal, Kirby argued that Rivera was an employee covered by the LHWCA and was contributorily negligent, and that his decision to wear sunglasses while aboard the vessel made him contributorily negligent in the fall. The appellate court disagreed, concluding that the district court did not err in finding that Rivera was not anyone's employee and therefore was not covered by the LHWCA, and that wearing sunglasses on a sunny day was not unreasonable. The court affirmed the district court's conclusion that the boat was unseaworthy, as the hatch door was unmarked and other courts have held that tripping hazards can render a vessel unseaworthy.
Editor's Note: An unseaworthiness claim is a type of maritime law claim, filed against the owner of a vessel if a person suffers injuries due to unsafe conditions on the vessel, including unsafe tools and equipment.