10-1716 Deering v. National Maintenance & Repair, Inc.

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Admiralty
Counterclaims

A shipowner cannot counterclaim for property damage in a seaman’s personal injury suit.
“[S]uppose that National’s negligence was 96 percent responsible for the sinking of its towboat and Deering’s negligence 4 percent responsible. Four percent of the loss from the boat’s sinking ($800,000) is only $32,000. But that’s $2,000 more than National’s liability to Deering on account of his injury-a liability capped, National claims, at $30,000. So Deering, although seriously injured (and in the present posture of the case we must assume seriously injured because of negligence by National), would end up not with positive damages or even zero damages but with negative damages: he would owe National money. That would be like the outcome in Cook v. St. Louis-San Francisco Ry., 75 F.R.D. 619 (W.D. Okla. 1976). An injured railroad conductor was awarded $46,000 in damages-and the railroad, which counterclaimed for property damage, was awarded $1.2 million in damages, leaving the plaintiff with no recovery and a large, though doubtless an uncollectible, debt. See Cavanaugh v. Western Md. Ry., 729 F.2d 289, 297 (4th Cir. 1984) (dissenting opinion).”

Affirmed.

10-1716 Deering v. National Maintenance & Repair, Inc.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Southern District of Illinois, Herndon, J., Posner, J.

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