City of Milwaukee v. Cement Division, National Gypsum Company, et al. (515 U.S. 189)
U.S. Supreme Court · decided June 12, 1995 · Supreme Court Database (Spaeth)
- Citation
- 515 U.S. 189 · 115 S. Ct. 2091
- Decided
- June 12, 1995
- Term
- October Term 1994
- Vote
- 8–0
- Majority author
- Justice Stevens
- Issue area
- Economic Activity
- Disposition
- Reversed
- Outcome
- Petitioning party lost
- Ideological direction
- Conservative
Opinion excerpt
Justice Stevens delivered the opinion of the Court. This is an admiralty case in which the plaintiff’s loss was primarily attributable to its own negligence. The question presented is whether that fact, together with the existence of a genuine dispute over liability, justified the District Court’s departure from the general rule that prejudgment interest should be awarded in maritime collision cases. f — Respondents are the owner and the insurers of the E. M. Ford, a ship that sank in Milwaukee’s outer harbor on Christmas Eve 1979. At the time of this disaster, the Ford was berthed in a slip owned by the city of Milwaukee (City). In the course of a severe storm, she broke loose from her moorings, battered against the headwall of the slip, took on water, and sank. She was subsequently raised and repaired. In 1980 the Ford’s owner, the Cement Division of National Gypsum Co. (National Gypsum), brought suit against the City, invoking the District Court’s admiralty and maritime jurisdiction. The complaint alleged that the City had breached its duty as a wharfinger by assigning the vessel to a berthing slip known to be unsafe in heavy winds and by failing to give adequate warning of hidden dangers in the slip. The plaintiff sought damages of $4.5 million, later increased to $6.5 million. The City denied fault and filed a $250,000 counterclaim for damage to its dock. The City…
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