Weed v. Bilbrey Et Al.

Background

Mrs. Weed sued for wrongful death after her husband was killed on navigable waters in Florida. The trial court found her husband negligent and applied Florida’s contributory-negligence rule, so she recovered nothing. A Florida appellate court initially said Florida adopted the federal maritime rule of comparative negligence, but the Florida Supreme Court later reversed and denied her recovery.

Reasoning

Mrs. Weed asked this Court to allow a cause of action under federal maritime law and to overrule an older decision called The Harrisburg. Her petitions for certiorari and rehearing were denied multiple times. A different widow, Mrs. Moragne, pursued a similar claim and won review in this Court; in June 1970 the Court vindicated Mrs. Moragne and overruled The Harrisburg decision, holding a maritime wrongful-death action can lie under general maritime law.

Real world impact

The motion before this Court was a request for leave to file a third petition for rehearing; the Court denied that motion. As a result, the earlier Florida ruling against Mrs. Weed stands, and she remains without recovery even though the Court later adopted a maritime rule that would have favored her. This outcome shows that timing and procedural steps can determine whether two people with similar accidents receive the same legal remedy.

Dissents or concurrances

Justice Douglas, joined by Justice Black, dissented from the denial of leave, arguing it was unfair to deny Mrs. Weed relief after the Court later granted and decided the similar Moragne case in her favor.