Southwest Marine, Inc. v. Byron Gizoni

Decided December 4, 1991. Byron Raymond White delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 90-584 · 502 U.S. 81 (1991) · Cited 224 times

Holding

A maritime worker whose occupation is one of those enumerated in the LHWCA may be a seaman within the meaning of the Jones Act.

The Court’s statement of the holding, from the opinion’s syllabus. The syllabus is prepared by the Reporter of Decisions and is not part of the opinion of the Court — read the official opinion for authority.

How the Justices voted

Decided 8–0.

“Concurring” means agreeing with the outcome; any split shown is the Court’s judgment, not each Justice’s reasoning. Source: the Supreme Court Database (Spaeth et al.), Washington University.

Precedents cited

Supreme Court decisions this opinion relies on, ordered by how often it cites each. Cases in our collection link through; others are named.

• McDermott International, Inc. v. Wilander · 498 U.S. 337 (1991)
• San Diego Building Trades Council v. Garmon · 359 U.S. 236 (1959)
• International Longshoremen's Ass'n v. Davis · 476 U.S. 380 (1986)
• Heckler v. Community Health Services of Crawford County, Inc. · 467 U.S. 51 (1984)
• Lindahl v. Office of Personnel Management · 470 U.S. 768 (1985)
• Northeast Marine Terminal Co. v. Caputo · 432 U.S. 249 (1977)
• Lyng v. Payne · 476 U.S. 926 (1986)
• P. C. Pfeiffer Co. v. Ford · 444 U.S. 69 (1979)
• Swanson v. Marra Brothers, Inc. · 328 U.S. 1 (1946)
• Sun Ship, Inc. v. Pennsylvania · 447 U.S. 715 (1980)
• Tipton v. Socony Mobil Oil Co. · 375 U.S. 34 (1963)
• Pennsylvania Railroad v. O'Rourke · 344 U.S. 334 (1953)

Cited by

Later Supreme Court opinions in our collection that cite this case.

• Chandris, Inc. v. Latsis · 515 U.S. 347 (1995)
• Harbor Tug & Barge Co. v. Papai · 520 U.S. 548 (1997)
• Stewart v. Dutra Construction Co. · 543 U.S. 481 (2005)

Official text

Read the official opinion (U.S. Reports, govinfo.gov)

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Byron Raymond White’s profile · All Supreme Court opinions · The Supreme Court

Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (1991). Citation count from the Free Law Project’s CourtListener bulk data. Data last verified 2026-07-03. Informational only; verify against the primary source before relying. Not a consumer report (FCRA).