This section contains the nature of the case and procedural background.

Andres San Martin (P), a seaman, brought this action against D alleging that he had twisted and strained his back while working for D. He claimed $ 75,000 damages based on negligence and on the unseaworthiness of the ship and $10,000 based on D's failure to provide him with medical attention, maintenance and cure, and wages as required by law. P's negligence claim invoked a remedy created by Congress in § 33 of the Jones Act, 46 U. S. C. § 688, which explicitly provides that a seaman can have a jury trial as of right; but the actions for unseaworthiness and for maintenance and cure are traditional admiralty remedies which in the absence of a statute do not ordinarily require trial by jury. P demanded a jury trial for all the issues growing out of the single accident. The judge granted a jury trial for the Jones Act and the unseaworthiness but decided the recovery under maintenance and cure for himself. The jury returned verdicts for D. The Judge awarded P $224 for maintenance and cure. The Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit affirmed. The supreme court granted certiorari. (Fitzgerald (P) was appointed administrator when Martin (P) passed.)

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