Maritime Injury Law Blog

November 25, 2009

Reversing a Seattle District Court decision, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has held that an injured Alaska fish processor has presented sufficient evidence that his case must go to trial.

Samson Ili brought a Jones Act injury claim against American Seafoods based upon the theory that it was negligent to require crewmen to work 16 hours a day, seven days a week, for months at a time. Ili was injured at the end of his shift, after months of work, while lifting 70-lb bags of product. The vessel reportedly took a roll and Ili lost his balance while handling the heavy bag, resulting in his injury. The Ninth Circuit ruled that a reasonable jury could find that these work conditions were a breach of American Seafood’s duty to provide a safe work environment. The Court held that even if the 16-hour-day work shift were customary in the fishing industry, that this does not establish a lack of negligence. The Court further noted that the long hours could be determined to be evidence that the American Seafoods vessel, American Triumph, was under-manned at the time of the crewman’s injury. The case will now be returned to the District Court where a jury will determine whether or not American Seafoods was negligent and their vessel unseaworthy.

A Washington State King County jury has awarded total damages in the amount of $1.6 million dollars to a crewman injured on an Alaska fish processor owned by Icicle Seafoods. $1.3 million dollars of the award was for punitive damages for Icicles’ wilful and wanton failure to pay maintenance and cure benefits as required by Federal law. Mr. Clausen, the injured crewman, was represented by Jim Jacobsen of the Seattle based maritime injury law firm of Beard Stacey & Jacobsen.

In February of 2006, Dana Clausen, a 55 year old Louisiana fisherman suffered back injuries in a lifting accident aboard the fish processing barge BERING STAR. Icicle disputed Clausen’s right to maintenance and cure. During the course of trial Icicle was ordered to produce a secret medical report they had commissioned relating to Clausen’s need for further treatment. The physician had reviewed Clausen’s records had recommended further treatment for Clausen and noted the need for possible surgery in the future. Icicle ignored the report, and subsequently commissioned a second medical report from a different physician indicating that Clausen needed no further treatment.

Under Federal maritime law, employers owe their crewman a good faith duty to administer maintenance and cure benefits. All doubts as to entitlements of benefits are to be resolved in favor of the injured seaman. Where there is conflicting medical evidence, the issue should be resolved in favor of the injured seaman. The King County jury found that Icicle was unreasonable in their failure to pay Clausen maintenance and cure and that Icicle’s conduct was willful and wanton.

Erin Reiman has been charged with murder of fisherman John Adkins. The crewmen were in Ilwaco aboard the F/V TIGER on July 5, 2009 when the murder is alleged to have taken place. According to information contained in the Court files, the murder happened as follows: Reiman and Adkins had recently become partners in the fishing vessel and brought the vessel to Ilwaco for repairs. Adkins and another crewman, Walter Bremmer, had been visiting bars in Ilwaco and thereafter, Adkins returned to the vessel. When Bremmer returned to the vessel, he witnessed Reiman and Adkins fighting. Reiman punched Adkins in the face and allegedly banged Adkins head into a window and threw him down the vessel’s stairs. Reiman continued to beat Adkins, he then wrapped an extension cord around Adkins’ neck and strangled him to death. Bremmer claims Reiman threatened to kill him too and ordered Bremmer to help him clean up the murder scene. The two men then put Adkins in a sleeping which they tied up with the extension cord. They stored Adkins’ body in the engine room and pretended to search for him the following day. The next day the men left port and about three miles off shore, dumped Adkins’ body overboard, weighed down with fishing gear. The murder was investigated by the Oregon State Police department and the Long Beach Police department. It appears that Adkins will stand trial on the second degree murder charges in Pacific County, Washington.