Davis & Sons, Inc. v. Gulf Oil Corporation

Davis (plaintiff) contracted with Gulf (defendant) under a master services agreement to provide general contracting services at Gulf's offshore mineral field, with a specific work order assigning Davis employees to work primarily from a barge, both traveling between wells and performing well work directly from the barge, which the employees also maintained; a Davis supervisor, Brenaman, drowned while working on the barge under this work order. After settling with Brenaman's estate, Davis sued for a declaratory judgment that state (Louisiana) law, rather than maritime law, governed the master agreement's indemnity clause; the district court granted Davis summary judgment, and Gulf appealed.