William Bilger v. Maritime Overseas Corporation, a Corporation

Appellant, a merchant seaman, sued the appellee, shipowner-employer to recover damages for injury to his foot, claiming that the injury was caused by the appellee’s negligence and by the unseaworthiness of its vessel. Appellant’s foot was crushed when the ship’s launch struck appellant as he was ascending a Jacob’s ladder hanging off the starboard side of the vessel. The district court found that the appellee was not negligent and that the vessel was not unseawor-thy, 304 F.Supp. 1024 .

On appeal, the seaman primarily contends that the district court erred in failing to find specifically upon the seaman’s claim that the doctrine of res ipsa loquitur applied. No express finding was required. Appellee presented evidence directed to the negligence and unseaworthiness issues, and the district court made express findings on both issues. Nothing in the doctrine of res ipsa loquitur compels the trier of fact to accept any inference arising from the application of the doctrine in the face of dispelling evidence. (E.g., Sweeney v. Erving (1913) 228 U.S. 233 , 33 S.Ct. 416 , 57 L.Ed. 815 ; United Fruit Co. v. Marine Terminals Corp. (9th Cir. 1967) 376 F.2d 1007 ; Orr v. Southern Pacific…