United States Eighth Circuit

In an action based on injuries sustained by plaintiff while on defendant's boat, judgment for plaintiff is affirmed in part where: 1) substantial evidence supported the district court's conclusion that defendant breached a duty of reasonable care if plaintiff was seated on the bow cushion when the boat came on plane; and 2) the district court's finding that defendant's negligence was a proximate and substantial cause of plaintiff's injuries was not clearly erroneous. However, the judgment is reversed in part where federal admiralty law did not allow for recovery of loss of consortium damages in negligence matters occurring outside territorial waters.

Appellate Information

• Decided 10/21/2009
• Published 10/21/2009

Judges

• COLLOTON, Circuit Judge., Before LOKEN, Chief Judge, HANSEN and COLLOTON, Circuit Judges.

Court

• United States Eighth Circuit

Counsel

• For Appellant:
  
• Francie C. Riedmann, argued, Omaha, NE, Thomas A. Grennan, Omaha, NE and George Soule, Minneapolis, MN, on the brief, for appellant.


• For Appellees:
  
• Joseph B. Muller, argued, Ronald Palagi and Joseph B. Muller, on the brief, Omaha, NE, for appellee.