# Cheryl Smith v. Trinidad Corporation

> Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit · May 10, 1993 · 992 F.2d 996

URL: https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/cases/606093

## Case

- **Full name:** Cheryl SMITH, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. TRINIDAD CORPORATION, Defendant-Appellee
- **Court:** Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
- **Decided:** May 10, 1993
- **Citations:** 992 F.2d 996; 93 Daily Journal DAR 5842; 1993 A.M.C. 2083; 93 Cal. Daily Op. Serv. 3390; 1993 U.S. App. LEXIS 10474
- **Precedential status:** Published
- **Opinion:** Opinion
- **Judges:** Goodwin, Hug, Fletcher
- **Cited by:** 23 later opinions in the Frix Law Library

## Citator (automated)

- No negative treatment found by the automated citator. That is not the same as a confirmation that the case is good law; read the citing cases.
- Full citator and citing cases: https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/cases/606093

## How later opinions describe it (automated extraction)

- holding that seamen do not have a remedy of punitive damages for personal injuries but non-seamen do
- holding wives of v. Brown Marine Serv., Inc., injured mariners cannot recover for loss of consortium under general admiralty law
- holding wives of injured mariners cannot recover loss of society or consortium under the Jones Act

## Opinion text

PER CURIAM:
Cheryl Smith appeals a summary judgment which denied. her claim for loss of consortium in her action against the shipowner on whose vessel her husband sustained an injury. We affirm.
The Supreme Court in
Miles v. Apex Marine Corp.,
498 U.S. 19 , 111 S.Ct. 317 , 112 L.Ed.2d 275 (1990) precluded actions for loss of society under the Jones Act, 46 U.S.C.App. § 688, and general admiralty law. We agree with the district court that the Supreme Court’s holding in
Miles
has changed the law, and that wives of injured mariners may no longer sue the ship for damages for their nonpecuniary losses, if any, caused by the injuries to the spouse.
The Fifth Circuit recently faced this same issue in
Murray v. Anthony J. Bertucci Constr. Co., Inc.,
958 F.2d 127 (5th Cir.),
cert. denied,
— U.S. —, 113 S.Ct. 190 , 121 L.Ed.2d 134 (1992), and held that
Miles
had effectively overruled earlier Fifth Circuit cases allowing wives of injured mariners to recover for loss of society and loss of consortium in their own actions filed under the Jones Act or under general admiralty law.
Id.
at 129-132 . We agree with the Fifth Circuit’s reading of
Miles
and affirm the summary judgment.
AFFIRMED.

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Source: Frix Law Library, https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/cases/606093. Public record. Not legal advice.