US SUPREME COURT DECISIONS
BISSO V. INLAND WATERWAYS CORP., 349 U. S. 85 (1955)
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Bisso v. Inland Waterways Corp., 349 U.S. 85 (1955)
Bisso v. Inland Waterways Corporation
No. 50
Argued February 28, 1955
Decided May 16, 1955
349 U.S. 85
Syllabus
1. A towboat owner may not validly contract against all liability for his own negligent towage. Pp. 349 U. S. 85-95.
(a) This Court now accepts as controlling a judicial rule, based on public policy, which invalidates contracts releasing towers from all liability for their negligence. P. 349 U. S. 90.
(b) @ 79 U. S. 86-92.
(c) Sun Oil Co. v. Dalzell Towing Co., 287 U. S. 291, distinguished. Pp. 349 U. S. 92-94.
2. The rule against contractual exemption of a towboat owner from responsibility for his own negligence cannot be defeated by providing in a contract that all employees of a towboat shall be employees of the towed vessel, when the latter "employment" is purely a fiction. Pp. 349 U. S. 94-95.
211 F.2d 401 reversed.
