Robert H. Jackson

“ Petitioner reads with that Amendment the provision of the Jones Act that statutes 'modifying or extending the common-law right or remedy in cases of personal injury to railway employees' shall apply in a seaman's action. We agree with the court below that the Amendment has no effect on the 'right or remedy' of railway employees but merely redefines for the purposes of the Federal Employers' Liability Act the scope of the word 'employee' to include certain persons not theretofore covered, because they were not directly engaged in interstate or foreign commerce. ”

“ Seamen were given the rights of railway employees by the Jones Act, but the definition of 'seaman' was never made dependent on the meaning of 'employee' as used in legislation applicable to railroads.
The next question is whether, without reference to this 1939 Amendment, decedent was a 'seaman' at the time of his death. The many cases turning upon the question whether an individual was a 'seaman' demonstrate that the matter depends largely on the facts of the particular case and the activity in which he was engaged at the time of injury. ”

“ The decedent, Thomas J. Desper, Jr., was first employed by respondent in April, 1947, to help prepare the boats for their seasonal launching. In June of the same year he acquired the necessary operator's license from the Department of Commerce and, for the remainder of that season, he was employed as a boat operator. When the season closed, he helped take the boats out of the water and block them up for the winter. ”