[B]Date Decided[/B]: Aug 4th, 2006
[B]Decided By[/B]: U.S. Court Of Appeals, Sixth Circuit (federal)
[B]Court[/B]: United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
[B]Citation[/B]: Arnold v. Luedtke Engineering Co., 2006 WL 2220978, 2006 AMC 2987 (6th Cir. 2006)
[B]Background[/B]:
Richard Arnold was employed with Leudtke, a maritimeconstruction and dredging company, over the past twenty-three years in variouscapacities including runner, deckhand, tugboat pilot, and project foreman. At the time of his injury, Arnold was workingon the Black Rock Lock project. The projectwas slated to take 9 months, divided into four phases, and Arnold was theproject foreman. In addition toreporting to the superintendent, his duties included acting as the tugboatcaptain, overseeing the sheeting phase, pouring concrete, tying rebar, settingtubes, inspecting and repairing the derrick boat every morning, and finallywelding wedge plates to each tube. Duringthe final phase of the project, Arnold was required to lift and carry one-hundredpound plates over a short distance. After several weeks of this work he began to experience back pain,eventually became unable to get out of bed due to the pain, and underwentsurgery to repair his back. Arnoldbrought suit against Luedtke alleging negligence under the Jones Act and vesselunseaworthiness. In response, Luedtkefiled a motion for summary judgment, which the district court granted, because Arnoldfailed to qualify as a seaman. Read More…