Opinion · Supreme Court of the United States

Great Lakes Dredge & Dock Co. v. Kierejewski

261 U.S. 479

Type
Opinion
Court
Supreme Court of the United States
Jurisdiction
Federal
Date
1923-04-09
Topic
general

How later courts describe this case

  • holding widow of worker killed on board helping repair a scow moored in navigable waters could not recover
  • application of wrongful death statute of the State of New York
  • discussing admiralty jurisdiction over "contract matters”

Citator

UpLaw has not yet analyzed Great Lakes Dredge & Dock Co. v. Kierejewski. The absence of a flag is not a finding that it is good law.

Cited by
92 opinions

Headnotes

  1. Admiralty & Maritime Law — Jurisdiction — Death on Navigable Waters A district court has admiralty jurisdiction over a libel to recover damages, under a local death statute, for a death occurring on navigable waters while the decedent was performing maritime service to a completed vessel afloat, where the death was occasioned by a tort committed there. 261 U.S. at 480
  2. Admiralty & Maritime Law — Jurisdiction — Contract and Tort In contract matters admiralty jurisdiction depends upon the nature of the transaction, and in tort matters it depends upon the locality of the tort; this doctrine is settled. 261 U.S. at 481 (quoting Grant Smith-Porter Ship Co. v. Rohde, 257 U.S. 469, 476)
  3. Admiralty & Maritime Law — State Law — Local Matters A state statute may be applied as between the parties where neither the general employment nor the activities at issue had any direct relation to navigation or commerce and the matter was purely local, provided the application would not work material prejudice to any characteristic feature of the general maritime law or interfere with its proper harmony and uniformity. 261 U.S. at 481 (citing Grant Smith-Porter Ship Co. v. Rohde, 257 U.S. 469)
  4. Admiralty & Maritime Law — State Death Statutes — Direct Relation to Navigation and Commerce Where a tort is committed and effective on navigable waters and the rights and liabilities of the parties are matters having a direct relation to navigation and commerce, the local death statute is applied only as supplemented by the rules of the maritime law, which govern and fix those rights and liabilities. 261 U.S. at 481–482 (citing Western Fuel Co. v. Garcia, 257 U.S. 233; Southern Pacific Co. v. Jensen, 244 U.S. 205; Carlisle Packing Co. v. Sandanger, 259 U.S. 255; State Industrial Commission v. Nordenholt Corp., 259 U.S. 263)
GT. LAKES CO.v. KIEREJEWSKI,261 U.S. 479(1923)
43 S.Ct. 418
GREAT LAKES DREDGE DOCK COMPANYv. KIEREJEWSKI, ADMINISTRATRIX OF
KIEREJEWSKI.
ERROR TO THE DISTRICT COURT OF THE UNITED STATES FOR THE WESTERN DISTRICT OF
NEW YORK.
No. 633.
Argued February 27, 1923.
Decided April 9, 1923.
The District Court has admiralty jurisdiction over a libel to recover damages, in accordance with a local death statute, for a death occurring on navigable waters while the decedent was there performing maritime service to a completed vessel afloat, and occasioned by a tort then and there committed. P. 480. Affirmed.
ERROR to a judgment of the District Court recovered by the
defendant in error in her libel for damages for the death of her
husband.
Page 480
Mr. George Clinton, Jr., with whomMr. Ulysses S. Thomaswas on the briefs, for plaintiff in error.Mr. Irving W. Colefor defendant in error.
MR. JUSTICE McREYNOLDS delivered the opinion of the Court.
The sole question propounded upon this direct writ of error is whether the District Court rightly held that it had jurisdiction to entertain the libel by which defendant in error sought to recover damages for the death of her husband. 280 F. 125.

Plaintiff in error, a corporation engaged in dredging, pile driving, etc., maintains a yard at Buffalo, New York, and also keeps there scows and tugs. Leo Kierejewski, a master boiler maker, was employed by it to perform services as called upon. Acting under this employment, he began to make repairs upon a scow moored in the navigable waters of Buffalo River. He stood upon a scaffold resting upon a float alongside. One of the Company's tugs came near, negligently agitated the water, swamped the float and precipitated him into the stream where he drowned.

While performing maritime service to a completed vessel afloat, he came to his death upon navigable waters as the result of a tort there committed. The rules of the maritime law supplemented by the local death statute applied and fixed the rights and liabilities of the parties.Western Fuel Co. v.Garcia,257 U.S. 233.

"The general doctrine that in contract matters admiralty jurisdiction depends upon the nature of the transaction and in tort matters upon the locality, has been so frequently asserted by this court that it must now be treated as settled."GrantSmith-Porter Ship Co. v.Rohde,257 U.S. 469,476.

In the cause last cited neither Rohde's general employment nor his activities had any direct relation to navigationPage 481or commerce — the matter was purely local — and we were of opinion that application of the state statute, as between the parties, would not work material prejudice to any characteristic feature of the general maritime law or interfere with its proper harmony or uniformity.

Here the circumstances are very different. Not only was the tort committed and effective on navigable waters, but the rights and liabilities of the parties are matters which have direct relation to navigation and commerce.Southern Pacific Co. v.Jensen,244 U.S. 205;Carlisle Packing Co. v.Sandanger,259 U.S. 255;State Industrial Commission of New Yorkv.Nordenholt Corporation,259 U.S. 263.Affirmed.