Barber v. New England Fish Company
Alaska Supreme Court · 1973-05-25 · cited 16×
The case involves Ronald Barber, a longshoreman employed by New England Fish Company, who was injured aboard the company's barge in navigable waters and had already received benefits under Alaska's workers' compensation act. Barber filed suit against his employer asserting claims of unseaworthiness and negligence under federal maritime law, but the superior court granted summary judgment to the employer on the ground that the state act's exclusive-remedy provision barred any further recovery. The Alaska Supreme Court framed the sole issue as whether receipt of state compensation precludes a subsequent federal unseaworthiness claim. The court reasoned that unseaworthiness is a federal maritime tort governed by federal substantive law under the saving-to-suitors clause, that the employment had a direct relation to navigation, and that the facts were distinguishable from Grant Smith-Porter Ship Co. v. Rohde, so the state exclusivity provision does not control.
