Atlantic Sounding Co., Inc., et al. v. Edgar L. Townsend
The Court held that a seaman may recover punitive damages from his employer for failure to pay maintenance and cure.
557 U.S. 404 · No. 08-214 · 2008 term · Roberts Court
Decided Jun 25, 2009 · argued Mar 2, 2009
Economic activity · Liability, punitive damages
Majority opinion: Clarence Thomas
The voteMajorityDissent
5–45 in the majority, 4 in dissent
4 dissents (5–4)
Affirmed. Atlantic Sounding Co., Inc., et al. lost.
What this ruling means
Affirmed: the Supreme Court upheld the decision of the U.S. Court of Appeals, Eleventh Circuit, so it stands (sometimes with changes the Court made to it).
Atlantic Sounding Co., Inc., et al. was the petitioner, the side that asked the Supreme Court to review the case. “Lost” means the Court did not give that side the result it asked for.
From the Supreme Court Database. A justice who agreed with the result but not the reasoning counts in the majority.
Summary
The opening of the case’s Wikipedia article: what the case was about and what the Court held.
Atlantic Sounding Co. v. Townsend, 557 U.S. 404 (2009), was a decision by the Supreme Court of the United States holding that a seaman may recover punitive damages from his employer for failure to pay maintenance and cure. Townsend reversed a line of cases, starting with Guevara v. Maritime Overseas Corp. in the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit (New Orleans), that restricted damages in maritime personal injury cases only to "pecuniary" damages. Consequently, a seaman can now recover both attorney's fees and punitive damages for the willful and wanton refusal of a shipowner to provide medical care to a seaman injured on the job. The Court's 5-4 opinion was delivered by Justice Clarence Thomas.
The Court explained that Congress never used the words "pecuniary" or "non-pecuniary" to describe the damages available for personal injuries (injuries not causing death) under either the Jones Act or the Federal Employers Liability Act. Congress merely said "damages"; hence, any limitation on those damages to "pecuniary damages" was a creation of the courts, not Congress. The Court stated that it "will not attribute words to Congress that Congress did not say."
Data notes
The text is Wikipedia’s (CC BY-SA 4.0), matched to the case by its citation, docket number or name and year, and is not checked against the opinion. The site keeps the article’s opening section, ending on its last full sentence. The one-sentence summary under the title is the Decisions list’s: Wikipedia’s own ruling sentence, or, tagged “AI-written”, one Claude wrote from this opening.
How the justices voted
Each justice who took part, placed by their Martin–Quinn ideology score for the 2008 term. Filled: the 5 in the majority. Hollow: the 4 in dissent. Colour is the party of the president who appointed them.
Majority(5)
Clarence ThomasWrote the majority opinion
John StevensJoined the majority
Ruth GinsburgJoined the majority
David SouterJoined the majority
Stephen BreyerJoined the majority
Dissent(4)
Samuel AlitoWrote a dissent
Anthony KennedyJoined a dissent
John RobertsJoined a dissent
Antonin ScaliaJoined a dissent
Data notes
Each justice’s vote and what they wrote are from the justice-centered file of the Supreme Court Database. “Wrote a concurrence” means the justice sided with the majority and wrote separately; a justice who dissented in part is counted on the side they took overall. A justice who wrote nothing is listed as joining their side.
Positions are each justice’s Martin–Quinn score for the case’s term, the same scores as the Ideology page: negative is more liberal, positive more conservative. A score sums up a justice’s votes across the whole term, so it says where they usually sit, not why they voted as they did here. The median line is the Court’s median justice that term.
The parties
Who brought the case to the Court, who answered it, and how it got there.
- Petitioner
- Atlantic Sounding Co., Inc., et al.Water transportation, stevedore
- Respondent
- Edgar L. TownsendEmployee, or job applicant
- Reached the Court by
- Certiorari (the Court chose to hear it)
- Why it was taken
- Federal appeals courts had ruled differently on the question
Data notes
The names are the two sides of the case’s title. The description under each is the Supreme Court Database’s category for that party, in its own wording. The petitioner is the side that asked the Supreme Court to review the decision below. “Why it was taken” appears only when the majority opinion says lower courts disagreed or were unsure about the question; reasons that would fit any case (“to resolve the question presented”, “an important question”) are left out.
The law at issue
The law the Court was asked to apply, and the kind of power it used to decide.
- Provision
- Jones, or Death on the High Seas
- Kind of law
- Federal Statute
- Decided by
- Federal common law; Statutory construction
Data notes
The Supreme Court Database codes the main constitutional provision, statute or court rule each case turned on, and the basis of the decision: judicial review of a federal or state law, interpreting a statute, supervising the lower courts, and so on. A case can rest on more than one. “Overruled” counts only where the majority opinion says so.
Timeline
What happened at the Court and how the case got there, newest first.
- Jun 25, 2009DecidedDecided · Decided 5–4: affirmed. Atlantic Sounding Co., Inc., et al. lost.
- Mar 2, 2009ArguedArgued · Oral argument before the Court.
- Not datedTaken upTaken up · The Supreme Court agreed to hear the case (certiorari). Federal appeals courts had ruled differently on the question.
- Not datedCourt belowCourt below · Decided by the U.S. Court of Appeals, Eleventh Circuit: affirmed.
- Not datedBeganBegan · The case began in the Florida Middle U.S. District Court.
Data notes
From the Supreme Court Database: the court the case began in, the court whose decision the Supreme Court reviewed and what that court did, how the case came to the Court, and the dates of argument and decision. The database does not date the steps in the lower courts. Court names are the database’s.
Other decisions on the same issue
12 other argued cases since 1946 on liability, punitive damages, newest first.
- The Dutra Group v. Batterton139 S. Ct. 2275Jun 24, 2019 · 139 S. Ct. 2275Economic activity6–36–3 band
- Paroline v. United States572 U.S. 434Apr 23, 2014 · 572 U.S. 434Economic activity5–45–4 band
- Exxon Shipping Co. v. Baker554 U.S. 471Jun 26, 2008 · 554 U.S. 471Economic activity5–36–3 band
- Philip Morris USA v. Mayola Williams, Personal Representative of the Estate of Jesse D. Williams, Deceased549 U.S. 346Feb 20, 2007 · 549 U.S. 346Economic activity5–45–4 band
- State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company v. Inez Preece Campbell and Matthew C. Barneck, Special Administrator and Personal Representative of the Estate of Curtis B. Campbell538 U.S. 408Apr 7, 2003 · 538 U.S. 408Economic activity6–36–3 band
- Kay Barnes, etc., et al. v. Jeffrey Gorman536 U.S. 181Jun 17, 2002 · 536 U.S. 181Economic activity9–0Unanimous band
- Cooper Industries, Inc. v. Leatherman Tool Group, Inc.532 U.S. 424May 14, 2001 · 532 U.S. 424Economic activity8–18–1 band
- BMW of North America, Inc. v. Ira Gore, Jr.517 U.S. 559May 20, 1996 · 517 U.S. 559Economic activity5–45–4 band
- Honda Motor Co., Ltd., et al. v. Karl L. Oberg512 U.S. 415Jun 24, 1994 · 512 U.S. 415Economic activity7–27–2 band
- Txo Production Corp. v. Alliance Resources Corp., et al.509 U.S. 443Jun 25, 1993 · 509 U.S. 443Economic activity6–36–3 band
- Pacific Mutual Life Insurance Company v. Cleopatra Haslip et al.499 U.S. 1Mar 4, 1991 · 499 U.S. 1Economic activity7–18–1 band
- Browning-Ferris Industries of Vermont, Inc., et al. v. Kelco Disposal, Inc., et al.492 U.S. 257Jun 26, 1989 · 492 U.S. 257Economic activity7–27–2 band
Data notes
Every other orally argued case with a clear vote, from the 1946 term on, that the Supreme Court Database files under the same issue as this one. The database gives each case one issue from a list of about 270 (abortion, search and seizure of vehicles, the death penalty, and so on), whatever law it turned on.
Official record
Read the full opinion on Justia, the argument audio on Oyez and Wikipedia. Case data from the Supreme Court Database, Version 2026 Release 01, through the 2025 term.