NINTH CIRCUIT RULES PUNITIVE DAMAGES AVAILABLE TO INJURED SEAMAN AND FISHERMAN

The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled that injured seaman and fisherman may claim punitive damages under the general maritime law unseaworthiness doctrine. The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals is the law that governs the claims for injured seaman that are filed in Alaska, Washington, Oregon and California State and Federal Courts. Governing law in these Courts now permit a seaman who is willfully and recklessly injured as a result of the vessel’s unseaworthiness to claim punitive damages.   The standard for an award of punitive damages is “conduct which manifests reckless or callous disregard for the rights of others or gross negligence or actual malice or criminal indifference”. Punitive damages are designed to punish certain wrongful acts and conduct of by the vessel owner and to serve as a deterrent to other vessel to withhold from committing similar wrongful acts. Punitive damages work. Since the ruling of the Supreme Court in Atlantic…

Read more detail on Recent Admiralty Law posts –

This entry was posted in Admiralty-Maritime Law and tagged , , , , , , , , . Bookmark the permalink.

Leave a Reply