Ulm v. Moore-Mccormack Lines Inc‪.‬

The plaintiff, a seaman employed on a vessel of the defendant, brought suit against the defendant claiming damages for personal injuries due to negligence and also seamans maintenance and cure. His claims arose from his fall down a companionway ladder from the main deck to the sleeping quarters of the crew early on Christmas morning, 1939. A jury trial resulted in a plaintiffs verdict of $25,000 on the claim of negligence, and of $10,000, reduced to $3,000 on the courts order and with plaintiffs consent, on the claim for maintenance and cure; and judgment for plaintiff was entered accordingly. On this appeal defendant argues vigorously that there was no evidence of negligence to be submitted to the jury; but the evidence of lack of light in the companionway and that the ladder was not secure at its foot seems to us to justify such submission. The important problem herein arises with respect to rulings on evidence.