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The Fifth Circuit’s recent en banc decision in Sanchez v. Smart Fabricators of Texas, L.L.C., No. 19 20506,2021 WL 1882565 (5th Cir. May 11, 2021) upends 20 years of its own precedent and reformulates the seaman status analysis. The plaintiff in the lawsuit was a...
In Sanchez v. Smart Fabricators, a unanimous, en banc decision of the 5th Circuit upended existing precedent in greatly narrowing the critical threshold issue of who qualifies as a seaman under the Jones Act. As one of the leading personal injury firms in the nation,...
The availability of emotional injury claims in maritime law is unsettled. As it stands, recovery of purely emotional injuries requires proof of an attendant physical injury—or at least emotional injuries that present with concurrent physical symptoms. But a recent...
An often overlooked component and independent cause of action in maritime injury claims is infliction of emotional distress. If you have been involved in accident and sustained psychological injury such as substantial distress, anxiety, grief, depression, insomnia, or...
Pilots, captains, and wheelmen are all primarily tasked with the safety of their crew and passengers. These seaman are also responsible for the safe navigation of their vessels, no matter the size or type of cargo. Some of the work shifts last 12-hours instead of...
No, a vessel owner or employer cannot unilaterally terminate maintenance and cure benefits without serious justification. Maintenance and cure requires that vessel owners and employers provide sick and injured seaman their basic living expenses and reasonable and...
The payment of maintenance and cure benefits for injured seaman are supposed to be “virtually automatic.” These claims are protections afforded to mariners in recognition of the perils of seafaring life. Maintenance benefits provide for a seaman’s basic living...
Legal Note Update: In June 2019, the US Supreme Court decided Dutra Group v. Batterson, holding that a plaintiff may not recover punitive damages for claims of unseaworthiness. The holding resolves a split among the circuits and overrules a 2017 decision by the...
Oil & Gas Worker Fatality Rate Seven Times Higher than Other Industries According to the United States Center for Disease Control and Prevention (“CDC”), the fatality rate for United States oil and gas extraction workers, both onshore and offshore, has in recent...
Since at least 1823, our courts have recognized that the perils of seafaring life necessitate unique protections for mariners. Consequently, under general maritime law and the Jones Act, any injured seaman is entitled to maintenance, cure, and unearned wages for...
Because of the special protections and remedies afforded to injured seaman under the Jones Act, one of the most important issues in a maritime claim is determining Seaman status. Ordinarily, to qualify as a seaman under the Jones Act, a maritime employee must spend a...
Hit by the twin storms of the ongoing pandemic as well as Tropical Storm Cristobal, offshore workers face continuing airlift evacuations under already dangerous working conditions. On May 27, 2020, nine Shell employees were evacuated from an offshore oil rig in the...
Currently, with the oil industry at a low point, Americans know to expect layoffs and tightening of budgets in a wide variety of offshore companies and companies that support the oil industry. What can also be expected are vessels that may be undermanned or maintained...
On June 3, 2017, it was announced that the sizeable Herbon oil platform started its two week journey from Bull Arm, St. John's, to the Grand Banks. Eight tow vessels were used to carry the massive platform to its destination.ExxonMobil started working on the Hebron...
Last month the U.S. Customs and Border Protection Service (CBP) announced that it will suspend and reconsider a set of regulatory amendments to the Jones Act that were proposed by the Obama administration. Under the Jones Act, established in the 19th Century, vessels...
In 2011, Furie Operating Alaska, an Alaskan oil and gas company, transported the Spartan 151 jack-up drill rig from the Gulf of Mexico to Alaska using a foreign-flagged vessel. The company agreed to pay a record $10,000,000 fine for failing to get pre-approval from...
On March 9, 2017, the Supreme Court of Washington held that a Jones Act seaman could recover punitive damages in an unseaworthiness claim. At least within the state of Washington, this ruling clarified previous confusion regarding applicability of common law damages...
Like most maritime accident claims, injuries to longshoremen and stevedores can involve a complex web of state and federal laws. The Longshore and Harbor Worker's Compensation Act (LHWCA) and case law interpreting the LHWCA outline three duties that vessel owners and...
Unlike typical personal injury lawsuits, claims involving ships and vessels may be subject to special rules that can limit the damages an injured party is entitled to receive following a lawsuit. While most lawsuits seek recovery for the entirety of medical and...
Yesterday, four oil platform workers jumped off an oil production platform off the coast of Louisiana into the Gulf of Mexico in an attempt to flee an early morning fire that threatened to cause serious bodily injury. Luckily, the workers were quickly recovered from...
The United States Coast Guard called off the search for two missing crewmembers of the fishing vessel Exito in Dutch Harbor, Alaska, following several days of intense search operations involving multiple Coast Guard and good Samaritan vessels and aircraft. The missing...
The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals recently ruled that the "collateral source rule," which prevents a defendant from reducing his liability by the amount a plaintiff recovers from independent sources such as health insurance, does not apply when the defendant's...
When a seaman is hurt at work, many employers seek to avoid responsibility by paying "advances" while the seaman is recovering and undergoing medical treatment. By law, the employer of an injured Jones Act seaman is required to pay that seamen maintenance and cure...
On October 25, 2016, two German shipping companies pleaded guilty to environmental crimes for using what is commonly referred to as a "magic pipe" to discharge pollutant-laden waste into waters of the United States. The companies, which owned and operated the M/V Nils...
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention provides reporting on the cleanliness of many cruise ship vessels that hail from United States ports, giving travelers the opportunity to determine the historical cleanliness of cruise ship vessels prior to travel. The...
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