May 14th, 2017

​Davis v. Dynamic Offshore Resources

Docket: 16-40059
Opinion Date: May 12, 2017
Judge: Edith Brown Clement
Areas of Law: Personal Injury

Plaintiff filed suit against Dynamic for negligence and gross negligence after he was injured during a personnel-basket transfer to Dynamic's 86A platform. The district court granted summary judgment to Dynamic, holding that it was not vicariously liable for the alleged negligence of its independent contractors. The Fifth Circuit affirmed, holding that personnel-basket transfers are not ultrahazardous activity because they require substandard conduct to cause injury, and that Dynamic did not authorize an unsafe working condition that caused injury to plaintiff.