Florida Third DCA rules that federal Death on the High Seas Act is inapplicable to deaths occurring within Florida's territorial waters extending up to shoreward edge of Gulf Stream
On June 6, 2018, in
Kipp v. Amy Slate’s Amoray Dive Center, No. 3D17-316, the Florida Third DCA reversed a trial court’s dismissal
of the plaintiff’s wrongful death complaint against two defendants
the plaintiff alleged negligently caused the death of her husband. The
trial court contended that the case had to be brought in federal court
under the Death on the High Seas Act (DOHSA), 46 U.S.C. Sections 30301-30308,
because the death occurred more than three nautical miles from the U.S.
shore, the threshold of DOHSA jurisdiction. On appeal, the Third DCA observed
that DOHSA also explicitly states that it does not apply to waters within
the territorial limits of a State. With respect to most coastal States,
this creates no conflict, because the territorial limit is three nautical
miles. However, Florida’s territorial limit extends to the greater
of three miles from the coast or to the shoreward edge of the Gulf Stream.
In this case, it was uncertain based on the complaint whether the decedent
died outside three nautical miles but inside the shoreward edge of the
Gulf Stream, prompting the Third DCA to reverse and remand the case for
further proceedings. The Third DCA also noted that even if DOHDA was subsequently
determined to be applicable, this would not deprive the state court of
jurisdiction over DOHSA claims, citing
Offshore Logistics, Inc. v. Tallentire, 477 U.S. 207 (1986) and
Hughes v. Unitech Aircraft Serv., Inc., 662 So. 2d 999, 1000 (Fla. 4
th
DCA 1995).
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