Wyatt v. Penrod Drilling Co.

735 F.2d 951 (5th Cir. 1984)

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Nature of the Case

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Facts

In September 1981, P was serving as a kitchen steward aboard the PENROD 54, a drilling rig owned by D, and with P an employee of Offshore. P and three other Offshore employees shared sleeping quarters which contained two upper and two lower bunks. At most hours someone was sleeping in the shared quarters because the four men worked different shifts. P occupied one of the upper bunks, which were not equipped with ladders. He usually jumped from his bunk to the floor in the dark so that he would not step on the man sleeping in the bunk below him or wake him. P was awakened by another crew member at about 4:00 a.m. so that he could begin his shift. P hopped from the side of his bunk in the dark. On this occasion, his foot struck a chair that had been placed near his bunk after he had gone to bed the night before. P hit the chair lost his balance and twisted his back. Within a few minutes, Wyatt was incapacitated by the pain of his injury. P was hospitalized for six weeks. After surgery to remove a ruptured disk, he is twenty percent permanently disabled and cannot perform any work that requires him to lift heavy objects, bend his back, or sustain a position for four or five hours. By the time of the trial, he had spent $16,919.20 on medical care. P alleged that PENROD 54 was unseaworthy because of the absence of ladders or other safe means for descending from the upper bunks and that Penrod and Offshore were liable to him under the Jones Act for their negligence. P demanded maintenance and cure payments in the amount of $15 per day. P proceeded under the theory that both Offshore and D were his employers within the meaning of the Jones Act, the latter under the 'borrowed servant' doctrine. The jury found that both Offshore and Penrod were Wyatt's Jones Act employers, but only Penrod was negligent; PENROD 54 was unseaworthy; Wyatt's own negligence contributed to his injury to the extent of twenty percent; and Offshore arbitrarily or callously failed to pay P maintenance and cure. The jury awarded P damages of nearly $700,000 including $12,800 in compensation for Offshore's failure to pay maintenance and cure. The district court modified the award to take into account the contributory negligence of P and entered judgment against D and Offshore for $556,332.78 and $12,800, respectively. The district judge denied P's motion for an award of prejudgment interest.