Case Summaries

Admiralty

[09/29] AGF Marine Aviation & Transp. v. Cassin
In an insurance claim arising from the sinking of defendant-insured's yacht, summary judgment for plaintiff is affirmed where: 1) the admiralty doctrine of uberrimae fidei applied to maritime insurance contracts; and 2) defendant made a material misrepresentation of the purchase price of the yacht, which voided the policy.

[09/24] Johnson v. Cenac Towing Inc.
In a suit arising from injuries sustained by plaintiff while working as a seaman for defendant, judgment and damages for plaintiff are vacated and remanded where: 1) plaintiff's Jones Act negligence claim was not barred by his failure to disclose prior medical conditions at hiring; 2) contributory negligence is a defense to a Jones Act claim, and remand was necessary for consideration of plaintiff's possible contributory negligence; and 3) payments to plaintiff by a health insurance plan were from a collateral source and could not be used by defendant to offset the damages owed.

[09/23] Consub Delaware LLC v. Schahin Engenharia Limitada
Decision denying defendant's motion to vacate maritime writ of attachment is affirmed where: 1) the Agreement was subject to the jurisdiction of the English courts; 2) an attachment "[did] not fit neatly" into the word "Agreement"; and 3) defendant did not demonstrate how the forum selection clauses in the Novation Agreement and the ACMA Agreement were different from other forum selection clauses that have been held not to divest courts outside of the selected forum of admiralty jurisdiction.

[09/22] Grand Isle Shipyard Inc. v. Seacor Marine, LLC
In an action for declaratory judgment arising from an indemnity dispute between two oil-platform contractors, summary judgment for plaintiffs is vacated and remanded where: 1) a ship or vessel is not a situs subject to the application of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (OCSLA); and 2) because OCSLA did not apply in this case, the Louisiana Oilfield Indemnity Act could not be applied as surrogate federal law to bar defendant's indemnity claims against plaintiff.

[09/16] NRDC v. Winter
The award of enhanced attorney's fees from an environmental case against the Navy is vacated and remanded for recalculation where: 1) co-counsel senior law firm partners and junior NRDC counsel did possess specialized experience needed in the litigation; but 2) co-counsel junior law firm associates did not qualify for enhanced fees due to lack of specialized experience; and 3) plaintiff had not shown that appropriate counsel could not be found at the statutory rate.

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Workers' Comp

[09/30] Amerada Hess Corp. v. Dir., Office of Workers' Comp. Programs, US Dep't of Labor
In a dispute over disability benefits for an employee, an ALJ's award of medical expenses for employee's heart condition, finding that claimant-employee was totally and permanently disabled, and award of attorney's fees are vacated in part and denied in part where: 1) the Longshore and Harbor Workers' Compensation Act did not support a presumption that any medical condition that an injured claimant suffers after a work-related injury is caused by the work-related injury; 2) remand was therefore necessary to determine whether claimant's heart condition "naturally or unavoidably" resulted from the medication he received for his on-the-job back injury, and whether claimant was in fact totally and permanently disabled; and 3) employer waived the issue of attorney's fees by failing to appeal it to the Benefits Review Board.

[09/25] Sanders v. City of Orlando
In a workers' compensation case, reversal of vacatur of a prior settlement agreement by a Judge of Compensation Claims (JCC) is quashed where a 2001 statutory change did not strip JCCs of jurisdiction to set aside workers' compensation agreements.

[09/25] Sanders v. City of Orlando
In a workers' compensation case, reversal of vacatur of a prior settlement agreement by a Judge of Compensation Claims (JCC) is quashed where a 2001 statutory change did not strip JCCs of jurisdiction to set aside workers' compensation agreements.

[09/25] Medrano v. Workers' Comp. Appeals Bd.
In a workers' compensation matter, decision finding that amount of petitioner's earning from subsequent employment must be subtracted from vocational rehabilitation maintenance allowance (VRMA) to which he was entitled is annulled and Workers' Compensation Board Judge's decision is reinstated where: 1) VRMA is not a wage replacement benefit; and 2) therefore there should be no credit against the worker's VRMA payments for wages earned during the same period the worker was awarded VRMA payments.

[09/16] Abena v. Metro. Life Ins. Co.
In an ERISA suit seeking continuation of long-term disability payments, summary judgment for defendants on the basis that plaintiff's claim was untimely is affirmed where: 1) a contractual limitations period is enforceable in an ERISA action so long as it is reasonable; and 2) the contractual provision of the plan at issue limiting the time for filing claims was reasonable under the circumstances.

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