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Conflict of Laws Keyed to Brilmayer
Tidewater Oil Co. v. Waller
Citation:
302 F.2d 638 (10th Cir. 1962)Facts
Spartan Aircraft Company (Spartan), an Oklahoma company that manufactured mobile homes, employed Plaintiff, Dennis Waller. Spartan sent Waller to Turkey to perform repair work on Spartan mobile homes that were owned by Defendant, Tidewater Oil Company (Tidewater), and were located at a remote and isolated oil well drilling site. Waller was injured during a plane crash while being transported to Tidewater’s drilling site.
Waller brought suit in an Oklahoma district court for damages for personal injuries caused by Tidewater. He alleged that his injuries were caused by the unsafe operation of Tidewater’s airplane and condition of the airstrip where the airplane landed. Waller argued that his right to recover should be determined by the laws of Turkey, and, in accordance with Turkey’s laws, Tidewater owed Waller the duty to use ordinary care in the operation of the airplane and to furnish a reasonably safe place to land the airplane. However, Waller did not present evidence of Turkish law applicable to the facts.
Tidewater denied allegations of negligence. Tidewater asserted that any claim or right of action was “exclusively cognizable” under either Turkey’s or Oklahoma’s workmen’s compensation laws, so under either Turkey or Oklahoma law, Tidewater would be secondarily and exclusively liable only for workmen’s compensation benefits. The Oklahoma district court, therefore, did not have jurisdiction over this suit.
The court concluded that the laws of Turkey permitted recovery as if the injury had occurred in Oklahoma, and found in favor of Waller. Tidewater appealed.
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