Claris Law Legal Blogging Community

Editor: Rod Sullivan
Profession: Maritime Attorney

Category: Unseaworthiness and The Jones Act

As long as a seaman is injured while in the service of the ship, the ship may still be liable even if a traffic accident occurs ashore. This was a hotly contested issue until the Supreme Court decided the case of HOPSON v. TEXACO, 383 U.S. 262 (1966) in 1966. In that case, a seaman was on his way to the U.S. Consul in a taxicab in a foreign country when the cab had an accident. He was on the way to the Consul's office to prepare paperwork for the seaman's repatriation so he could get medical care in the U.S. The Supreme Court decided that the shipowner was liable under the Jones Act for the negligence of the taxi driver.