Seaman prevails in appeal of his Texas Jones Act victory

An offshore worker who was awarded $203,168 in damages by a Texas district court for a shoulder injury was further vindicated when his employer’s appeal was rejected by a federal court.

Lavern D. Bonin claimed he suffered a serious injury to his left shoulder while working for Ryan Marine on the M/V RMS Citation on April 6, 2007 after being ordered by the captain to detach the vessel from a work platform on shore by way of disconnecting and retrieving a mooring line.

The Southern District of Texas court found that the captain was negligent for sending Bonin and another crewmember to retrieve the line because: a) it was waterlogged and heavy; b) conditions were dangerous due to rough seas and poor visibility; c) those circumstances created an unseaworthy vessel.

Ryan Marine appealed the verdict to the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans on the following grounds: a) neither Bonin nor his partner were experienced enough to testify that the captain was negligent. The Fifth Circuit rejected this because Bonin had 40 years of experience and his partner had 15 years of experience on vessels; b) Ryan Marine never presented evidence that expert testimony was required to demonstrate that the captain did not exercise ordinary prudence; c) Ryan Marine failed to support its argument that, even if both workers were qualified to testify, they did not prove that the captain was negligent. The court disagreed, stating that there was sufficient evidence to show that conditions were dangerous; d) Ryan Marine’s argument that, even if the captain’s negligence was proven, it did not cause the injury, was rejected because he never should have ordered those men out the retrieve the line in the first place. Instead, they should have just cut it.

The Fifth Circuit affirmed the district court’s judgment and award.

Read Bonin v. Ryan Marine Services, Inc. in our article library here.

Source: Hawaii Ocean Law.com