Lopez v. United States

A workplace fatality occurred on a United States Navy ship when a contractor fell to his death through a gap at the end of an elevator platform. A ramp lowered and covered the gap when the elevator was raised. Anakaren Lopez (plaintiff) sued the United States government (the government) (defendant) in federal district court, arguing that the death was due to the government’s negligence. Lopez’s attorney had previously inspected the ship once but requested a second inspection. The district court denied the request. Lopez’s attorney raised a new argument in support of a second inspection, and the district court referred the matter to a magistrate court. Lopez’s attorney argued that he had not seen the ramp in person and did not know how much of the gap the ramp blocked. Lopez’s attorney argued that the diagrams and photographs provided during discovery were unhelpful and that he could not accurately reconstruct the accident. Lopez’s attorney argued that he had an absolute right to view the ramp in person and determine whether the lowered ramp could have prevented the fall. The government asserted that the lowered ramp fully covered the gap because forklifts drove across it. The government offered to stipulate that the contractor died by falling through the gap and that the ramp was not lowered because if the ramp had been lowered, the gap would be entirely blocked.