A California surfboard shop may be held liable for the death of a man who drowned while using a stand-up paddleboard (SUP) in Santa Cruz Harbor, because the sport does not pass the maritime taste test.
In February 2018, Blue Water Boating asked the federal court for exoneration from liability, as the board is more kayak than surfboard and therefore fell within its jurisdiction.
The Central District Court of California has dismissed the case due to a lack of admiralty jurisdiction, however, since the plaintiff did not show that the incident happened on navigable waters or could have disrupted maritime commerce.
Blue Water Boating also failed to show that paddleboard use has a "substantial relationship to traditional maritime activity", thus failing the "traditional maritime nexus test".
"The district court did not find [the] petitioners’ argument persuasive and dismissed the action for lack of subject matter jurisdiction," US maritime law firm Chalos & Co wrote in a note.
The petitioners contested the court's decision, but on Monday the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit upheld it for lack of subject matter jurisdiction.
"The Ninth Circuit also applied the traditional maritime nexus test and held that the general character of the activity, the rental of a SUP, lacked 'maritime flavour' and a close relationship to traditional maritime activity under ... the traditional maritime nexus test," Chalos wrote.
"Accordingly, the Ninth Circuit affirmed the District Court’s dismissal of the action."
