Schmidt v. Blackhawk Fleet, Inc.

CARTER, Justice.

Plaintiff, Louis H. Schmidt, who had been employed by the defendant, Black-hawk Fleet, Inc. (Blackhawk), to clean barges intended for hauling cargo on the Mississippi River, appeals from an adverse summary judgment denying his alleged “seaman” status required to maintain this personal injury action under the Jones Act, 46 U.S.C. § 688. After reviewing the summary-judgment motion papers most favorably toward Schmidt, the district court concluded that under the undisputed facts none of his work was of a seagoing nature, and any connection he had with the barges involved in his…