Southwest Marine, Inc. v. Byron Gizoni (502 U.S. 81)
U.S. Supreme Court · decided December 4, 1991 · Supreme Court Database (Spaeth)
- Citation
- 502 U.S. 81 · 112 S. Ct. 486
- Decided
- December 4, 1991
- Term
- October Term 1991
- Vote
- 8–0
- Majority author
- Justice White
- Issue area
- Economic Activity
- Disposition
- Affirmed
- Outcome
- Petitioning party lost
- Ideological direction
- Liberal
Opinion excerpt
Justice White delivered the opinion of the Court. The question presented is whether a maritime worker whose occupation is one of those enumerated in the Long-shore and Harbor Workers’ Compensation Act (LHWCA), 44 Stat. 1424, as amended, 33 U. S. C. §901 et seq., may yet be a “seaman” within the meaning of the Jones Act, 46 U. S. C. App. §688, and thus be entitled to bring suit under that statute. I Petitioner Southwest Marine, Inc., operates a ship repair facility in San Diego, California. In connection with its ship repair activities, Southwest Marine owns several floating platforms, including a pontoon barge, two float barges, a rail barge, a diver’s barge, and a crane barge. These platforms by themselves have no power, means of steering, navigation lights, navigation aids, or living facilities. They are moved about by tugboats, which position the platforms alongside vessels under repair at berths or in drydock at Southwest Marine’s shipyard or at the nearby naval station. The platforms are used to move equipment, materials, supplies, and vessel components around the shipyard and on to and off of the vessels under repair. Once in place, the platforms support ship repairmen engaged in their work. Southwest Marine employed respondent Byron Gizoni as a rigging foreman. Gizoni worked on the floating platforms and rode them as they were towed into place. Gizoni occasionally…
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