Section 11.34 Punitive Damages

• Library: Tort Law 2016

E. (§11.34) Punitive Damages

While punitive or exemplary damages are generally not available in claims asserted by seamen under the Merchant Marine Act of 1920 (commonly known as the Jones Act), 46 U.S.C. §§ 30104 et seq., some courts have held that, in appropriate circumstances, punitive damages may be available to passengers with tort claims, although there is a split in authority. For discussion on the availability of punitive damages for seamen, see Atlantic Sounding Co. v. Townsend, 557 U.S. 404 (2009) (allowing punitive damages for seamen for willful and wanton failure to pay maintenance and care by employer), and McBride v. Estis Well Service, L.L.C., 768 F.3d 382 (5^th Cir. 2014) (punitives are not available to seamen in unseaworthiness cases).

There is a long tradition of awarding punitive damages to passengers under the maritime law. The earliest reported case in which these damages were awarded by a court in this country is Chamberlain v. Chandler, 5 F. Cas. 413 (D. Mass. 1823), in which passengers sued the master of a vessel for his conduct toward them on a voyage from Hawaii to Boston. Justice Story...