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King Fisher Marine Service, L.P. v. Tamez – Important Jones Act Case

On October 18th the Texas Supreme Court decided to hear King Fisher Marine Service, L.P. v. Tamez, a case that potentially has important consequences for Jones Act seamen.
Most seamen perform work in response to orders given by their superiors. The courts recognize this and have established an exception to the general rule that a seaman’s recovery is reduced by his percentage of fault. This exception says that if a seaman is injured when following the orders of a superior, then the seaman cannot be found to be at fault.
Last year the Texas Supreme Court considered a case on just this issue: Weeks Marine v. Garza. In Weeks Marine the Texas Supreme Court narrowly interpreted this rule and held that a seaman cannot be held negligent if the injury occurred when the seaman was complying with a superior’s specific orders. According to the Texas Supreme Court, in order to prove he was complying with a specific order, the seaman must prove he was ordered to do a specific task in a specific manner or ordered to do a task that can only be accomplished one way. (Here is a link to the majority opinion).
In Tamez the seaman was injured while serving on a dredge boat when his captain yelled for him to come help.
The captain and another member of the crew were attempting to remove the shaft and socket from a piece of equipment when it became clear that these pieces were too heavy for them. The captain yelled for Mr. Tamez to immediately come help, and it was when Mr. Tamez was helping hold this equipment that he injured his back.
The jury found that both the Jones Act employer, King Fisher Marine, and the seaman, Mr. Tamez, were negligent; found each to be 50 percent at fault; and found that Mr. Tamez was injured while following the Captain’s orders. The trial judge held that because the jury found Mr. Tamez was injured following orders, he could not have his damages reduced by 50%, but rather should recover all his damages. The Corpus Christi Court of Appeals affirmed the trial court’s ruling. Now the Supreme Court will decide the case.
The question that the Supreme Court will decide is whether the seaman proved that the order was specific enough. Was the captain’s emergency cry for Mr. Tamez to come help a specific order, or was it just a general request and Mr. Tamez had the right to decide exactly how he helped.
The case will be argued in December and we should expect an opinion from the Texas Supreme Court in the spring of 2014.
The Jones Act is a federal statute that partially governs the legal rights of seamen who are injured in the course of their employment. It applies to men and women who work on all types of vessels, including certain drilling rigs, as long as they are injured in the service of the vessel. This is a very specialized area of law with its own unique set of rules and regulations, including special federal rules that may apply in federal court. In addition to representing seamen from Texas, Richard Schechter has been retained to represent clients from across the United States and around the world.
Maritime cases involve more than just injuries to seamen. For example, longshoremen injured while loading and unloading cargo are covered by the Longshore and Harbor Workers Compensation Act and the maritime common law, as are ship repairers. Oilfield workers injured or killed on fixed and floating structures may be covered by one of a variety of laws, depending upon the facts of the case, and passengers on any type of vessel, including cruise ships and military vessels, have claims that fall under the general maritime law. Each of these cases demands a maritime attorney with knowledge and experience like Richard Schechter.

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Richard Schechter
Richard Schechter
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