Gaming Ship Liable for Crew Member's Hospital Bill

A Texas appellate court upheld a jury's verdict requiring the owner of a gaming ship to pay $762,948.63 and $557,384.63 in attorney fees to a hospital that treated a Filipino national who had been contracted to work as a card dealer, without ruling whether the employer was liable for maintenance and cure benefits.The appellate court ruled that the jury had correctly found that the owner of the M/V Texas Treasure, harbored in Corpus Christi, was liable to pay the hospital bill, because a representative of the company had promised to pay the bill when its employee was admitted. The ship owne...