190
Opinion of the Court
has already been taken into consideration under the Reliable Transfer rule in calculating the amount of the loss for which the relatively innocent party is responsible. In light of Reliable Transfer, a denial of prejudgment interest on the basis of mutual fault would unfairly penalize a party twice for the same mistake. Pp. 194-199.
31 F. 3d 581, affirmed.
Stevens, J., delivered the opinion of the Court, in which all other Members joined, except Breyer, J., who took no part in the consideration or decision of the case.
David A. Strauss argued the cause for petitioner. With him on the briefs were Grant F. Langley, Rudolph M. Konrad, and Michael Sturley.
Harney B. Stover, Jr., argued the cause and filed a brief for respondents.
Justice Stevens delivered the opinion of the Court.
This is an admiralty case in which the plaintiff's loss was primarily attributable to its own negligence. The question presented is whether that fact, together with the existence of a genuine dispute over liability, justified the District Court's departure from the general rule that prejudgment interest should be awarded in maritime collision cases.
I
Respondents are the owner and the insurers of the E. M. Ford, a ship that sank in Milwaukee's outer harbor on Christmas Eve 1979. At the time of this disaster, the Ford was berthed in a slip owned by the city of Milwaukee (City). In the course of a severe storm, she broke loose from her moorings, battered against the headwall of the slip, took on water, and sank. She was subsequently raised and repaired.
In 1980 the Ford's owner, the Cement Division of National Gypsum Co. (National Gypsum), brought suit against the City, invoking the District Court's admiralty and maritime
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