Kermarec v. Compagnie Generale Transatlantique

358 U.S. 625 (1959)

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Nature of the Case

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Facts

The S. S. Oregon, was berthed at a pier. P came aboard solely to pay a social visit and deliver a package from a friend in France to Henry Yves, a member of the ship's crew. Yves had obtained a pass from the executive officer authorizing P to come aboard. As P started to leave the ship several hours later, he fell and was injured while descending a stairway. On the theory that his fall had been caused by the defective manner in which a canvas runner had been tacked to the stairway, P brought an action for personal injuries alleging unseaworthiness of the vessel and negligence on the part of its crew. Federal jurisdiction was invoked by reason of the diverse citizenship of the parties, and a jury trial was demanded. The district judge held that the substantive law of New York was applicable. This eliminated the unseaworthiness claim from the case. The jury was instructed that P was 'a gratuitous licensee' who could recover only if D had failed to warn him of a dangerous condition within its actual knowledge, and only if P himself had been entirely free of contributory negligence. P got the verdict. The trial court granted D's motion to set the verdict aside and dismiss the complaint, ruling that there had been a complete failure of proof that D had actually known that the stairway was in a dangerous or defective condition. The Court of Appeals affirmed. P appealed.