Hess v. United States (1959)
- Docket
- 5
- Decided
- 1959-01-01
- Category
- General
Summary
Question: Could Hess invoke Oregon's Employers’ Liability Law to recover for Graham’s maritime death, even though the ELL imposed a higher standard of duty than federal maritime law? Conclusion: Yes. In a 6-3 opinion written by Justice Potter Stewart, the Court held that there was no constitutional impediment to applying Oregon’s Employers’ Liability Law to Hess’ claim through maritime law. Justice Stewart cited precedent that wrongful deaths in state territorial waters were not judged under maritime law’s standards of duty, but rather under the substantive standards of state law. He argued that it would be an anomaly to allow states to create a right of action for death, but not to allow them to determine the circumstances under which that right exists. Justice Stewart refused to answer whether a state wrongful death act might offend traditional principles of maritime law, noting that the ELL was in some ways more in consonance with general maritime law principles than the WDA. Chief Justice Earl Warren, Justice Hugo Black, Justice William Douglas and Justice William Brennan concurred. They argued for the evenhanded application of the Court’s recent ruling in Tungus v. Skovgaard , but took issue with that case’s holding that the federal maritime wrongful death duty depended on the substantive law of a given state. Justice John Harlan dissented, joined by Justice Felix Frankfurter. Justice Harlan noted that Oregon imposed a higher standard of duty for wrongful deaths on its navigable waters, but that the normal lesser maritime duty applied to injuries short of death. He argued that the Court should not impose a state standard of duty higher than the general maritime duty unless that state explicitly required it. Justice Charles Whittaker also dissented, joining Justice Harlan’s dissent except for its implication that wrongful deaths on the navigable waters of a state are ever governed by the general substantive tort laws of that state.