Brattoli v. Kheel

JUDD, District Judge.

OPINION AND FINDINGS

This case, tried without a jury, presents the claim of a longshoreman who was hit in the back of the head and neck by pieces of rigging when the inshore pendant of a cargo boom parted. He charges the vessel, the S. S. Kathryn of Bull Lines, with unseaworthiness and negligence. The vessel in turn seeks indemnity and attorneys’ fees from the longshoreman’s employer, International Terminal Operators Co., Inc. (I.T.O.).

Liability as between the vessel and I. T.O. depends on whether the pendant broke simply because the steel cable forming the pendant had…