Norfolk Ship Building and Dry Dock Corporation v. Garris

Garris alleged her son died as a result of injury sustained while performing sandblasting aboard a vessel berthed in territorial waters of the United States. She asserted the injuries resulting in death were caused by the negligence of the dry dock. The district court dismissed the complaint stating that no cause of action existed under the general maritime law for death resulting from negligence. The Fourth Circuit reversed reasoning that although the United States Supreme Court had not yet recognized the maritime cause of action for wrongful death resulting from negligence, the principles contained in Moragne made such an action appropriate. The defendant was not the decedent’s employer nor owner of the vessel on which he was killed. Accordingly, the claim was not covered by, and hence not barred by federal statutory remedies under the Longshore and Harbor Worker’s Compensation Act, the Jones Act, or Death on the High Seas Act.

Previously, the Second, Fourth, Fifth, and Ninth Circuits (and the Texas Supreme Court) determined that Moragne (although on its facts confined to an unseaworthiness action) should be extended to recognize a negligence based wrongful death action under the general maritime law.

It appears the only explanation for the court’s ruling in light of the previous Yamaha Motor Corp. v. Calhoun case involving the death of a non-seaman in territorial state waters and permitting the application of state wrongful death remedies appears to lie in the court’s statement that "the issue addressed in Yamaha, whether state remedies may in some instance supplement a federal maritime remedy, is not presented in this case, where respondent is no longer pursuing such remedies." Accordingly, it arguably appears unclear, despite Garris and Yamaha, to what extent maritime workers are foreclosed from reliance on state wrongful death statutes.