Exxon Company, U.S.A. v. Sofec, Inc.
United States Supreme Court
517 U.S. 830 (1996)
Relevant factsFree
An Exxon (plaintiff) oil tanker was moored to a Single Point Mooring System owned by Sofec (defendant) while unloading oil off Hawai'i. During a storm the ship broke loose, and the captain's subsequent navigational decisions caused the ship to strike coral and spill oil. Exxon sued Sofec in admiralty; the district court found the captain's negligence was the superseding and sole proximate cause of the harm and entered judgment for Sofec, which the Ninth Circuit affirmed.
IssueFree
Whether a plaintiff in admiralty that is the superseding cause of its own injury can recover damages from a tortfeasor whose conduct was a cause in fact of the injury.