Touchet v. Estis Well Service, LLC
Petition for certiorari denied on January 8, 2018
Issues: (1) Whether seamen may recover punitive damages for their employer's willful and wanton breach of the general maritime law duty to provide a seaworthy vessel, as held by the Washington Supreme Court and the U.S. Courts of Appeals for the 9th and 11th Circuits; or whether punitive damages are categorically unavailable in an action for unseaworthiness, as held by the U.S. Courts of Appeals for the 1st, 5th, and 6th Circuits and the Texas Supreme Court; and (2) whether the Jones Act, 46 U.S.C. § 30104, “prohibits the recovery of punitive damages in action under that statute,” a question explicitly left open by the Supreme Court in Atlantic Sounding Co., Inc. v. Townsend.
| Date | Proceedings and Orders (key to color coding) |
|---|
| Jun 27 2017 | Application (17A7) to extend the time to file a petition for a writ of certiorari from July 9, 2017 to September 5, 2017, submitted to Justice Alito. |
| Jul 05 2017 | Application (17A7) granted by Justice Alito extending the time to file until September 5, 2017. |
| Sep 05 2017 | Petition for a writ of certiorari filed. (Response due October 10, 2017) |
| Sep 27 2017 | Blanket Consent filed by Respondent, Virgie Ann Romero McBride on 10/06/2017 |
| Sep 27 2017 | Blanket Consent filed by Petitioner, Saul C. Touchet |
| Oct 10 2017 | Motion for leave to file amicus brief filed by Seafarers' Rights International. |
| Oct 10 2017 | Motion for leave to file amicus brief filed by Global Maritime Ministries, Inc. New Orleans. |
| Oct 18 2017 | DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 11/3/2017. |
| Oct 20 2017 | Response Requested. (Due November 20, 2017) |
| Nov 27 2017 | Letter of November 24, 2017 from counsel for petitioner received. |
| Dec 12 2017 | Letter of December 12, 2017 from counsel for respondent Estis Well Service, LLC, received. |
| Dec 12 2017 | Letter of December 12, 2017 from counsel for petitioner received. |
| Dec 13 2017 | DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 1/5/2018. |
| Jan 08 2018 | Motion for leave to file amicus brief filed by Seafarers' Rights International GRANTED. |
| Jan 08 2018 | Motion for leave to file amicus brief filed by Global Maritime Ministries, Inc. New Orleans GRANTED. |
| Jan 08 2018 | Petition DENIED. |
