Wiley Blount Rutledge, Hust v. Lines — Opinion of the Court
“ Not always does the law proceed in disregard of that truth. There was nothing to prevent Congress or the President, acting in exercise of their authority, from shifting the technical relation of employer and employee from the general agent to the Government, for purposes relevant to ultimate wartime control of marine employees, without at the same time disrupting their normally applicable rights and remedies. ”
Wiley Blount Rutledge, Hust v. Lines — Opinion of the Court
“ Wisely or unwisely, they have steadfastly preferred the traditional remedy of jury trial for negligence to workmen's compensation based on liability without fault. By 1942, when the Government took over the merchant marine, that remedy had become a thoroughly established incident of the seaman's contract of employment, as much so as the historic relief afforded by the general maritime law for maintenance and cure or maritime tort. ”
Wiley Blount Rutledge, Hust v. Lines — Opinion of the Court
“ For in that view, even before the Classification Act was adopted, the seaman's exclusive remedy for injuries incurred after the transfer was by suit under the Suits in Admiralty procedure. But § 1 expressly gives election between that identical remedy, as conferred by the Clarification Act, and preexisting remedies. It is too obvious to require statement that if the seaman's only remedy for injuries incurred before the Clarification Act became effective was under the Suits in Admiralty Act, as respondent contends, the election given by § 1 becomes no election whatever. ”
