## Facts

- Haverty worked for International Stevedoring Co. as a longshoreman stowing freight in a vessel’s hold in Seattle harbor.
- A hatch tender, also employed by International Stevedoring, negligently failed to warn that a load of freight was about to be lowered.
- The descending load injured Haverty.
- Haverty sued his employer in Washington state court for damages.
- The employer argued Haverty and the hatch tender were fellow servants, barring recovery under the fellow-servant doctrine.
- The trial court instructed that if the hatch tender’s failure to signal proximately caused the injury, the verdict should be for Haverty; the jury found for Haverty.
- The Washington Supreme Court affirmed; the U.S. Supreme Court granted certiorari.

## Issues

1. Whether a stevedore/longshoreman engaged in stowing cargo is a “seaman” under § 20 of the Merchant Marine Act of 1920 (Jones Act).
2. If so, whether incorporation of federal statutes governing railroad employee injury claims eliminates the fellow-servant defense in such an action against the employer.

## Decision

- The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment for Haverty.
- The Court held that, for purposes of § 20, “seamen” includes stevedores when engaged in the maritime work of stowing cargo.
- Because the incorporated railroad-injury statutes abolish the fellow-servant rule, the employer could not avoid liability on that ground.

## Legal Principles

- Congress may modify maritime injury remedies and common-law defenses through statute; courts apply the statutory change as written.
- Under the Jones Act, an injured “seaman” may sue for damages at law with a jury, and statutes modifying railroad employees’ injury remedies apply.
- For Jones Act coverage, “seaman” can extend beyond ordinary usage to include workers performing ship’s maritime work, such as cargo stowage.
- When the Jones Act applies, the fellow-servant doctrine does not bar recovery for injuries caused by a co-employee’s negligence.

## Conclusion

The Court construed the Jones Act to treat stevedores performing maritime cargo stowage as “seamen,” thereby applying the statutory abolition of the fellow-servant defense and sustaining a damages judgment against the employer for a co-worker’s negligent failure to warn.


International Stevedoring Co. v. Haverty, 272 U.S. 50 (1926)