November 14, 2024

DSB obtained the dismissal of a personal injury action brought by someone who crashed their boat and tried to blame an East End town by claiming it had been negligent in the placement and maintenance of buoys. The boat accident resulted in one fatality and several injuries, prompting multiple lawsuits, including one by the operator of the vessel against the Town. The operator removed all of the personal injury cases to federal court, and then when the Town argued that the removal was improper, they filed a federal admiralty proceeding — known as a limitation of liability action — seeking a declaration that they were not at fault, which resulted in all other proceedings being stayed. Eventually, the Town succeeded having the operator’s admiralty claims dismissed, and the Federal court sought to re-engage the parties with respect to whether the personal injury actions should stay in federal court or be remanded to state court. Upon consideration, after the operator did not respond to the court’s inquiries regarding that issue, the federal court remanded the other personal injury actions back to state court, but ordered that the boat operator’s personal injury action be dismissed for failure to prosecute.