Preview:

SUPREME COURT OF LOUISIANA 98-C-1755 DOUGLAS WISNER versus PROFESSIONAL DIVERS OF NEW ORLEANS ON WRIT OF CERTIORARI TO THE COURT OF APPEAL, FOURTH CIRCUIT, PARISH OF PLAQUEMINES TRAYLOR, Justice* We granted this writ to determine if a commercial diver, whose employment placed him on vessels for ninety percent of his work life, is a seaman and thus entitled to Jones Act coverage. After reviewing the record and applicable law, we reverse the lower courts' finding and hold that Jones Act coverage should not be withheld based upon the fact that the vessels upon which a diver works are not under his employer's common ownership and control. Because a commercial diver's duties continuously subject him to the perils of the sea, plaintiff is properly classified as a Jones Act seaman. FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY On January 15, 1994, Douglas C. Wisner (Wisner), a commercial diver by trade, was employed by Professional Divers of New Orleans, Inc. (PDNO) installing anodes on platforms and repairing pipelines while working aboard Exxon's fixed platform seventy-three in the West Delta region of the Gulf of Mexico. However, approximately twenty-one hours after making a dive of 165 feet, Wisner began to feel light headed and out of breath. On January 16, 1994, Wisner was flown to shore and subsequently sought medical attention at Jo Ellen Smith Regional Medical Center in New Orleans. After receiving hyperbaric treatment, Wisner was admitted to the hospital and later treated for tachycardia, which developed while he was in the hospital. Wisner worked for PDNO as a diver from November 1992 until January 1994. In the course of his employment, Wisner was assigned to numerous jobs, ten percent (10%) of which required him to work off of fixed platforms and ninety percent (90%) of which required him to work from vessels. With the exception of the job at issue, Wisner slept and ate on the vessels from which he was diving. Wisner worked on approximately fourteen different vessels owned by

*

VICTORY, J., not on panel. See Rule IV, Part 2,

Download 98-C-1755 DOUGLAS WISNER v. PROFESSIONAL DIVERS OF NEW ORLEANS.pdf

Louisiana Law