City of Milwaukee v. Cement Division of National Gypsum Company

National Gypsum's ship, the Ford, broke loose from its moorings in a City of Milwaukee (defendant) slip during a severe storm and was damaged; National Gypsum (plaintiff) sued in admiralty, alleging the city had negligently assigned it an unsafe slip, while the city blamed National Gypsum for leaving the ship unmanned in winter. Courts apportioned 96 percent (later revised to two-thirds) of the fault to National Gypsum, and after a partial settlement excluding prejudgment interest, National Gypsum sought over $5.3 million in prejudgment interest, which the district court denied as inequitable given National Gypsum's own substantial negligence; the court of appeals reversed.