De Vincenzi v. Waterman Steamship Corp.

This is a suit by a longshoreman for damages for injuries suffered when he fell into a hatch on the SS Madaket, a vessel owned and operated by defendant Waterman Steamship Corporation. At the time of his fall, plaintiff was working aboard the vessel as an employee of Mat-son Terminals, Inc., who had been hired by defendant to load the vessel. Defendant Waterman has moved for summary judgment in its favor upon the novel ground that because it had a potential liability to compensate plaintiff under the Longshoremen’s and Harbor Workers’ Compensation Act, 44 Stat. 1424 , 33 U.S.C.A. § 901 et seq., it is entitled to the immunity from suit for damages accorded by that Act to employers.

Waterman alleges that Matson Terminals, Inc. had the status of a subcon-, tractor and that Waterman, as the contractor, was a statutory guarantor of compensation benefits to plaintiff by virtue of Section 4 of the Longshoremen’s and Harbor Workers’ Compensation Act, 33 U.S.C.A. § 904 . Section 4 provides that “in the case of an employer who is a subcontractor, the contractor shall be liable for and shall secure the payment of such compensation to employees of the subcontractor unless the subcontractor…