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In re Hellenic Inc.

252 F.3d 391 (2001)

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In re Hellenic Inc.

United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
252 F.3d 391 (2001)

AR

Facts

A barge owned by Athena Construction (Athena) (defendant), a division of Hellenic, Inc., damaged a pipeline owned by Bridgeline Gas Distribution LLC (plaintiff) while the barge was working on a construction project. Dana Lee, a construction superintendent employed by Athena, made the decision to leave the barge unmanned before the barge damaged the pipeline. Both parties agreed that Lee was negligent in leaving the barge unmanned. Lee had worked in the area for 15 years and had authority over all four vessels used by Athena for the project. Lee supervised Athena’s divers in the area, dealt with project inspectors, and was required to confer with Drake Stansbury, Athena’s president, only if the inspectors suggested work that appeared to fall outside the scope of the project. While Lee was in charge of the project, he could not make business decisions on behalf of Athena, execute binding contracts, set Athena’s prices, nor hire or fire Athena employees. Hellenic filed a complaint for exoneration or limitation of liability under the Limitation of Liability Act. The court ruled that Lee was an employee with sufficient authority to make Hellenic aware of the accident and that consequently the act did not apply. Hellenic appealed.

Rule of Law

Issue

Holding and Reasoning (Higginbotham, J.)

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Admiralty

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