Atlantic Transport Co. of W. Va. v. Imbrovek

Citations

• 234 U.S. 52
• 34 S. Ct. 733
• 58 L. Ed. 1208
• 1914 U.S. LEXIS 1184

Syllabus

<p>As a general principle, the test of admiralty jurisdiction in tort in this country is locality.</p> <p>Admiralty has jurisdiction of a suit in personam by an employé of a stevedore against the employer to recover for injuries sustained through the negligence of the latter while engaged in loading a vessel lying at the dock in navigable waters.</p> <p>The precise scope of admiralty jurisdiction is not a matter of obvious principle or of very accurate history, The Blackheath, 195 U. S. 361, . and quaere whether the admiralty jurisdiction extends to a case where the tort is not of a maritime nature although committed on navigable waters.</p> <p>A tort committed on a vessel in connection with a service thereto may be maritime even if there is no fault on the part of, or injury to, the ship itself.</p> <p>Stevedores are now as clearly identified with maritime affairs as are the mariners themselves.</p> <p>Whether the employer failed to provide a safe place to work is a question properly determinable by the Circuit Court of Appeals in last resort, and this court will'.not disturb- such a finding if concurred in by both courts below and justified by the record.</p>