American Seafoods Company v. Ahokaya Naufahu
Opinion
Opinion
MEMORANDUM
Appellant Ahokava Lanu Naufahu challenges the summary judgment in favor of Appellee Coastal Villages Pollock, LLC (“Coastal Villages”) that Naufahu is not entitled to maintenance and cure, compensation available under general maritime law to a seaman who falls ill or becomes injured while in the service of a ship, see Lipscomb v. Foss Maritime Co., 83 F.3d 1106, 1109 (9th Cir. 1996), from his former employer. For the reasons set forth below, we affirm. The parties are familiar with the factual background, so we do not recite it here.
Coastal Villages moved for summary judgment on the grounds that Naufahu was not entitled to maintenance and cure because his pulmonary conditions did not arise or manifest while he was working in service of the vessel and because, in any event, Naufahu’s failure to disclose his medical conditions when specifically asked about them precluded him from seeking relief. The district court granted Coastal Villages’s motion on the latter ground, known as the willful concealment defense. Coastal Villages Pollock, LLC v. Naufahu, Nos. C13-1234-JCC, C13-1235-JCC, 2014 WL 1053126 , at *6-7 (W.D. Wash. Mar. 19, 2014).