Florence L. Barbetta, and James D. Barbetta v. S/s Bermuda Star, in Rem, Her Engines, Tackle, and MacHinery Etc.

How courts have described this case

Verbatim parenthetical descriptions written by other courts when citing this decision. Ranked by citation-network relevance.

• explaining that “[a]n impressive number of courts from many jurisdictions have, for almost one hundred years, followed this same basic rule”
• rejecting plaintiffs’ argument that when a carrier hires a doctor who cannot practice medicine in the United States it commits “actionable negligence.”
• stating “a shipping company is not in the business of providing medical services to passengers; it does not possess the expertise requisite to supervise a physician or surgeon carried on board a ship as a convenience to passengers”
• discussing a similar liability clause, the Barbetta Court held “[w]e note only that because there was no liability to disclaim, the contractual provision is not a disclaimer; it is instead, merely an accurate restatement of the principles of general maritime law which we have reviewed above”
• shipowner not vicariously liable for ship doctor’s negligence where contract of passage disclaimed responsibility for physician’s omissions, negligence, or damage to passenger
• “[Gjeneral maritime law does not impose liability under the doctrine of respondeat superior upon a carrier or ship owner for the negligence of a ship’s doctor who treats the ship’s passengers.”

Source: CourtListener parenthetical corpus (CC0).