E.D.La. court denies recovery of Jones Act nonpecuniary wrongful death damages and punitive damages.

In Ainsworth v. Caillou Island et al, E.D. La. C/A No. 13-0688, Tracy Ainsworth filed suit as the parent and natural tutrix of Veronika Bumgarner, the surviving daughter of decedent Vernon Bumgarner, a Jones Act seaman.  Plaintiff sought recovery of loss of society damages, punitive damages, and the decedent’s lost wages.  The defendants moved to strike those elements of the claim as not recoverable under the Jones Act or general maritime law.

The district court agreed.  Under Miles v. Apex Marine, the 1990 US Supreme Court case, in a Jones Act wrongful death suit, the decedent’s survivors can only recover lost pecuniary damages, while the decedent’s estate can only recover for the survival claim and burial expenses.  Plaintiffs argued Miles is curtailed from two recent opinions:  Exxon v. Baker, where the Supreme Court ruled in the Exxon Valdez lawsuit that punitive damages are available under general maritime law, and Atlantic Sounding v. Townsend, where the Supreme Court ruled a Jones Act seaman is entitled to punitive damages for willful and wanton denial of maintenance and cure.

Although some courts have held the Supreme Court’s two more recent cases have abrogaged Miles, or limited it solely to the Jones Act context, Judge Brown ruled Miles is still good law and struck the non-recoverable damages.  Judge Brown also ruled a Jones Act seaman’s survivors’ recovery against a third-party is no greater than the recovery against the Jones Act employer.

Disclosure:  Duncan & Sevin represents the defendants in this matter.