Pope & Talbot, Inc. v. Hawn et al. (346 U.S. 406)
U.S. Supreme Court · decided December 7, 1953 · Supreme Court Database (Spaeth)
- Citation
- 346 U.S. 406 · 74 S. Ct. 202
- Decided
- December 7, 1953
- Term
- October Term 1953
- Vote
- 6–3
- Majority author
- Justice Black
- Issue area
- Economic Activity
- Disposition
- Affirmed
- Outcome
- Petitioning party lost
- Ideological direction
- Liberal
Opinion excerpt
Mr. Justice Black delivered the opinion of the Court. The respondent Charles Hawn sustained severe physical injuries when he slipped and fell through an uncovered hatch hole on the petitioner Pope & Talbot’s vessel. The ship was then berthed at a pier located in Pennsylvania waters of the Delaware River. Loading of the vessel with grain for a voyage had been temporarily interrupted to make minor repairs on the grain loading equipment. Hawn was doing carpentry work on this equipment to make it spread the grain evenly and thereby balance the ship’s load to make the coming voyage safer. He was not an employee of Pope & Talbot’s but of the respondent Haenn Ship Ceiling and Refitting Company which had been hired to make these repairs. Hawn brought this civil action in a United States District Court to recover damages for his injuries. His complaint charged that his injuries resulted from the vessel’s unseaworthiness and from Pope & Talbot’s negligence. In answering, Pope & Talbot denied both charges and set up contributory negligence as a defense to each. In addition, Pope & Talbot brought in Hawn’s employer Haenn as a third party defendant, alleging that Haenn’s negligence had caused Hawn’s injury and claiming recovery over against Haenn by way of contribution or indemnity. A jury found that the ship was unseaworthy, that Pope & Talbot had been negligent, that Haenn had been…
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