Summary
In Moragne we had held, pursuant to the Florida Supreme Court's answer to our certified question, that the Florida wrongful death statute did not give rise to an unseaworthiness cause of action for the wrongful death of a longshoreman on the navigable waters of Florida. Thereafter the Supreme Court decided Moragne, holding that an action lies under general maritime law for death caused by unseaworthiness of a vessel on state navigable waters without regard to the limited scope of the state wrongful death statute.
Summary of this case from Weeks v. Alonzo Cothron, Inc.Opinion
No. 24198.
April 1, 1969.
C.J. Hardee, Jr., Tampa, Fla., for appellants.
David C.G. Kerr, Dewey R. Villareal, Jr., William Terrell Hodges, John W. Boult, Tampa, Fla., for appellees.
Before WISDOM, THORNBERRY and GOLDBERG, Circuit Judges.
On August 11, 1967, this Court entered its certificate certifying to the Supreme Court of Florida the following stipulated question:
"Does the Florida Death by Wrongful Act Statute give rise to a cause of action under principles of the maritime law of unseaworthiness for the wrongful death of a longshoreman caused by the unseaworthiness of a vessel on the navigable waters of the State of Florida?"
The Supreme Court of Florida in Moragne v. State Marine Lines, 1968, 211 So.2d 161, in answer to the question, stated:
"For the reasons stated, the answer to the question certified must be in the negative."
No useful purpose will be served by additional review of pertinent authority upon the issue of law presented in this appeal. It is sufficient to say that in The Tungus v. Skovgaard, 1959, 358 U.S. 588, 79 S.Ct. 503, 3 L.Ed.2d 524, the United States Supreme Court held that the question whether a State Wrongful Death Act encompasses a cause of action for unseaworthiness is a question to be decided by the courts of that state.
Since the Florida Supreme Court has determined that the Florida Wrongful Death Statute does not encompass a cause of action for unseaworthiness, the judgment is affirmed.