William C. Dean v. United States
Opinion
Opinion
Dean, plaintiff below and appellant here, was injured while aboard the USS Toluga, a Naval vessel owned by the United States. The injuries resulted from Dean’s having slipped on two successive days, first on a pipe and the second time on a ladder, while working as an employee of Todd Shipyards, Inc. (Todd). Although the ship was afloat in navigable waters, it was tied to Todd’s dock, undergoing extensive overhaul and reconstruction. Todd was performing the work under a contract which called for Government expenditure in the approximate sum of $2,900,000.
The accidents occurred in the vessel’s Number 2 pump room, an area which, according to the District Court’s determination, was under the exclusive control of Todd at all times relevant to the controversy.
In suing the Government, Dean alleged that the ship was unseaworthy and that the Government was negligent. As to the latter contention, the District Court found, in effect, that there was no negligence on the Government’s part which contributed as a proximate cause of the accidents and Dean’s resulting injuries. The finding is not clearly erroneous. There is abundant evidence to support it.