Summary
In Rodrigue, the Supreme Court held that Congress made an explicit decision that maritime law would not apply to the "artificial islands placed or erected on the Outer Continental Shelf for the purpose of exploration, production, and development of oil and gas resources" when it passed the original OCSLA in 1953.
Summary of this case from Demette v. Falcon Drilling Co., Inc.Opinion
No. 24504.
May 16, 1968.
Thomas W. Thorne, Jr., New Orleans, La., Philip E. Henderson, Charles J. Hanemann, Jr., Houma, La., A. Deutsche O'Neal, Philip E. Henderson, Charles J. Hanemann, Jr., of O'Neal, Waitz Henderson, Houma, La., for plaintiff-appellant.
W.J. McAnelly, Jr., New Orleans, La., Richard C. Baldwin, James E. Blazek of Adams Reese, New Orleans, La., for defendants-appellees.
Before BELL, AINSWORTH and GODBOLD, Circuit Judges.
Appellant's husband was killed in an accident on the derrick of a drilling rig on a fixed structure located on the Outer Continental Shelf approximately 28 miles south of Grand Isle, Louisiana. The District Judge dismissed appellant's civil suits based upon Louisiana's Death Statute (La.R.C.C. Art. 2315) but retained jurisdiction over her suit in Admiralty under the Death on the High Seas Act (46 U.S.C. § 761 et seq) and awarded a substantial judgment under that Act.
The contention that under Section 4 of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act ( 43 U.S.C. § 1331) appellant may bring an action for damages under the Louisiana Death Statute (La.R.C.C. Art. 2315) has recently been decided by us adversely to the contentions of appellant. In Dore et al. v. Link Belt Co. et al., 5 Cir., 1968, 391 F.2d 671, we held that the exclusive remedy under these circumstances is the Death on the High Seas Act. We are not persuaded that we should change our holding in Dore, which is supported by three recent decisions of this Court in Loffland Brothers Company v. Roberts, 5 Cir., 1967, 386 F.2d 540, cert. denied, 389 U.S. 1040, 88 S.Ct. 778, 19 L.Ed.2d 830 (1968); Ocean Drilling Exp. Co. v. Berry Bros. Oilfield Service, 5 Cir., 1967, 377 F.2d 511; and Pure Oil Co. v. Snipes, 5 Cir., 1961, 293 F.2d 60.
Affirmed.