Vogel v. Alaska Steamship Co.

Defendant shipowner appeals from a judgment on an adverse jury verdict in an action brought by a longshoreman for personal injuries sustained in a fall aboard the defendant’s vessel. The jury found both negligence on the part of the shipowner and unseaworthiness of the vessel. Plaintiff cross-appeals from a reduction of the damage award by the jury under the rule of comparative negligence in maritime law.

Plaintiff was in the employ of Alaska Terminal and Stevedoring Company, working the night shift as a general stevedore aboard the defendant’s vessel, the SS Galena. Plaintiff’s gang was…