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Admiralty Law Keyed to Maraist
McDermott International, Inc. v. Wilander
Citation:
498 U.S. 337, 111 S.Ct. 807, 112 L.Ed.2d 866, 1991 AMC 913 (1991)Facts
Jon Wilander worked for McDermott International as a paint foreman, supervising the sandblasting and painting of fixtures and piping on oil drilling platforms in the Persian Gulf. On July 4, 1983, while inspecting a pipe on one such platform, a bolt serving as a plug in the pipe blew out under pressure and struck Wilander in the head, causing injury. At the time of the accident, Wilander was assigned to the American-flag vessel M/V Gates Tide, a “paint boat” chartered to McDermott that contained equipment used in sandblasting and painting operations. Wilander sued McDermott under the Jones Act, claiming negligence. McDermott argued that Wilander was not a “seaman” under the Jones Act because his duties did not aid in the navigation of the vessel. The jury found that Wilander was either permanently assigned to or performed a substantial amount of work aboard the Gates Tide, and that his duties contributed to the function of the vessel or to the accomplishment of its mission, thereby qualifying him as a seaman under the Fifth Circuit’s Robison test.
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