Curtis v. BP America, Inc.

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER

LEE H. ROSENTHAL, District Judge.

I. Background

This case arises out of the explosion of the DEEPWATER HORIZON in the Gulf of Mexico on April 20, 2010. Stephen Curtis, an assistant driller, died in the explosion. Wyman Wheeler, a toolpusher, suffered severe injuries. Curtis’s estate and family — referred to in this opinion as “Curtis” — and Wheeler sued under the Jones Act, 45 U.S.C. § 51, et seq., and maritime law in state court. The defendants removed, arguing that the Jones Act claims were fraudulently pleaded and that the jurisdictional provision of the Outer Continental…