H2o Houseboat Vacations Inc. v. Roberta Hernandez

Appellee Roberta Hernandez and her family (the Hernandez family) were injured by carbon monoxide fumes in a houseboat they rented from the appellant H20 Houseboat Vacations (H20) at Lake Havasu in Arizona. Asserting admiralty jurisdiction, H20 filed an action in the Central District of California seeking to limit its liability under the Limitation of Vessel Owner’s Liability Act, 46 U.S.C.A. App. § 181 et seq.

The district court granted the Hernandez family’s motion to dismiss for lack of subject matter jurisdiction under Rule 12(b)(1) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. The district court determined that maritime jurisdiction was lacking because the incident whicli caused injury to the Hernandez family did not have the potential to disrupt maritime commerce.

The houseboat was tied to the shore of Lake Havasu. The Hernandez farhily slept on the houseboat the night before they were to take it out on the lake the next day. It was summertime and it was hot. The family closed all of the windows in the sleeping area of the houseboat, turned on the air conditioning, and went to sleep. During the night, the Hernandez family was seriously injured by carbon monoxide fumes within the…