Offshore Logistics, Inc. v. Tallentire

477 U.S. 207 (1986)

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Nature of the Case

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Facts

The husbands of Corrine Taylor and Beth Tallentire (Ps) worked on drilling platforms. The husbands were killed while being transported in a helicopter owned and operated by Air Logistics (D), a Division of Offshore Logistics, Inc. (D), from a drilling platform to Houma, Louisiana. The crash occurred 35 miles off the coast of Louisiana. Ps filed wrongful death suits raising claims under DOHSA, OCSLA, and the law of Louisiana. The District Court ruled that DOHSA provides the exclusive remedy for death on the high seas, and it dismissed Ps' claims based upon the Louisiana wrongful death statute. D admitted liability and the trial was limited to the question of damages. DOHSA limits recovery to 'fair and just compensation for . . . pecuniary loss.' The District Court awarded damages that did not include those for nonpecuniary losses. Ps appealed the dismissal of their OCSLA and state law wrongful death claims, contending that they were entitled to nonpecuniary damages under the Louisiana wrongful death statute. Ps argued that the Louisiana statute applied either of its own force by virtue of the saving provision in § 7 of DOHSA, 46 U. S. C. § 767, or as adopted federal law through OCSLA. The Court of Appeals reversed. It held that OCSLA adopts state law as surrogate federal law only '[to] the extent [the state laws] are . . . not inconsistent with . . . other Federal laws.' The court concluded that Louisiana law could not be applied through OCSLA as the Louisiana wrongful death scheme was inconsistent with DOHSA. It then addressed § 7 of DOHSA, which provides: 'The provisions of any State statute giving or regulating rights of action or remedies for death shall not be affected by this chapter. Nor shall this chapter apply to the Great Lakes or to any waters within the territorial limits of any State, or any navigable waters in the Panama Canal Zone.' 46 U. S. C. § 767. It concluded that that section was intended to preserve the applicability of state wrongful death statutes on the high seas. It further held that Louisiana had legislative jurisdiction to extend its wrongful death statute to remedy deaths on the high seas and that Louisiana in fact intended its statute to have that effect. Ps appealed