Becker v. Tidewater Inc., No. 08-30183
In an action based on injuries sustained by plaintiff on an oil rig owned by one defendant and operated by another defendant, the district court's judgment holding the operator 55% liable for plaintiff's injuries and the owner 45% liable is affirmed in part where: 1) the reciprocal indemnity agreement between defendants obligated the operator to indemnify the owner for plaintiff's injuries; and 2) the district court did not clearly err in determining that the owner was not the superseding cause of the incident. However, the judgment is reversed in part where: 1) the operator's negligence in failing to properly warn employees how to operate certain machinery on the boat should not have been characterized by the district court as time-charterer negligence; and 2) the parties' agreement only entitled the owner to attorney's fees incurred in defending the underlying tort action. (Superseding opinion)
Read Becker v. Tidewater Inc., No. 08-30183
Appellate Information
Filed October 26, 2009
Judges
Opinion by Judge Benavides