## Facts

- Eugene McClure, an American seaman assigned to the *Keystone State*, returned from authorized shore leave in La Pallice, France, on March 31, 1961.
- Around 11:45 p.m., he mistakenly went to a dock in the inner harbor (over a mile from his ship) where the *American Angler* (owned by United States Lines Co.) was moored.
- McClure was extremely intoxicated; *American Angler* crew members realized he was not one of their crew but attempted to assist him.
- The chief engineer seated McClure 20–25 feet from the dock edge, provided coffee, and crew members twice restrained him from leaving because he seemed unable to walk safely along the waterfront.
- Crew members learned McClure’s identity from his papers; the master and other officers observed the situation.
- The chief engineer offered to help McClure locate the *Keystone State* and told him to wait while the engineer retrieved a jacket from the ship.
- McClure appeared improved but still unfit to travel alone; no one continuously watched him while the engineer was away.
- McClure fell into the water near the ship’s bow and was promptly pulled out by crew members, but resuscitation efforts failed and he died.

## Issues

1. Whether, as proved at trial, French law imposed civil liability on persons who render aid that is allegedly careless or ineffectual (as distinct from liability for refusing to render aid).
2. Whether the district court clearly erred in finding the *American Angler*’s crew not negligent under the applicable French civil-fault standard.

## Decision

- The Fourth Circuit affirmed the judgment for United States Lines Co.
- The court agreed that French “non-assistance” provisions were not violated because the crew did not refuse aid and instead undertook affirmative assistance.
- The court held that any liability would have to rest on negligent performance of undertaken aid under French civil-fault provisions, and the district court’s finding of no negligence was not clearly erroneous.

## Legal Principles

- When foreign law is proved through expert testimony, the trial court’s interpretation and application of that law, and fact-bound determinations of fault, receive substantial deference on appeal.
- French non-assistance rules, as proved here, target voluntary abstention from aiding a person in danger and do not automatically create civil liability where aid was in fact rendered.
- Civil liability under general French delict principles requires fault in the manner aid was rendered; unsuccessful assistance alone is insufficient.
- Appellate review of a district court’s negligence finding is governed by the “clearly erroneous” standard.

## Conclusion

The Fourth Circuit held that, under the French law proved at trial, the crew’s efforts to assist an intoxicated seaman did not constitute actionable fault, and it upheld the district court’s finding that leaving him briefly unattended was not shown, on this record, to be negligent.


McClure v. United States Lines Co., 368 F.2d 197 (4th Cir. 1966)