In June 2011, an offshore worker was injured on a spar (a floating platform shaped like a giant buoy) on the outer continental shelf when he was struck in the face with the flange of a valve. He filed a personal injury lawsuit against the manufacturer of the spar, McDermott, Inc., alleging his injury was caused by defective design and construction of the spar.
McDermott filed a motion for summary judgment, arguing that the plaintiff’s right of action was perempted under Louisiana law. McDermott asserted that because plaintiff was covered by the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (OCSLA), the law of the adjacent state (Louisiana) applied as a surrogate to federal law. McDermott then pointed to a Louisiana statute, La. R.S. 9:2772, which provides a five year peremptive period in which to bring an action arising out of deficiencies in the design or construction of immovable property. Because McDermott delivered the finished spar to its customer (plaintiff’s employer) in 2004, plaintiff’s design defect claim filed in 2013, was time barred. The District Court agreed with McDermott and dismissed plaintiff’s claims. Plaintiff appealed to the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals.
On appeal, plaintiff argued that La. R.S. 9:2772 did not apply to his claim because the spar was not an immovable, which was a matter of first impression for the Court. The Fifth Circuit had previously determined that a spar is not a vessel for purposes of the Jones Act, but no court had ever addressed whether a spar is immovable property under Louisiana law. The Court noted that fixed platforms are considered immovable property. The Court further noted that the spar in question was permanently moored to the ocean floor, was intended to remain in its location for its twenty year life, and it would take months of planning to move the spar. The Fifth Circuit concluded that enough similarities exist between a spar and fixed platform that a spar is immovable property under Louisiana law. Thus, plaintiff’s design defect claims were dismissed as time barred by state law.
Hefren v. McDermott, Inc.