Wallace Boudreaux v. Transocean Deepwater, Inc.

PATRICK E. HIGGINBOTHAM, Circuit Judge:

Wallace Boudreaux .sued Transocean Deepwater, Inc. to recover maintenance and cure for a back injury allegedly sustained on the job. Transocean successfully established a defense to liability under McCorpen v. Central Gulf Steamship Corp. and counterclaimed to recover benefits it had already paid to Boudreaux. The district court awarded summary judgment to Transocean on its counterclaim, concluding that Transocean’s successful McCorpen defense automatically established its right to restitution — a right of action never before recognized in maritime law.…