Maxson v. Federal Barge Lines, Inc.

Defendant, Federal Barge Lines, Inc., appeals from the judgment of the Circuit Court of St. Clair County, entered on a jury verdict awarding damages for personal injuries to the plaintiff, Gilbert Maxson, in an action brought under the Jones Act (46 U.S.C. §688 (1976)) and the general maritime law.

At the time of the accident, the plaintiff was employed as a deckhand in the crew of defendant’s vessel, M/V United States, a tow vessel on the Mississippi River. In the early morning hours of a rainy night near Osceola, Arkansas, a barge containing soybean oil was to be added to the tow. The…