Here is number four on my list of the Longshore Act’s landmark U.S. Supreme Court cases. It’s Sun Ship, Inc. v. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, et al., 447 U.S. 715 (1980). This is the decision...

This is a continuation of a brief list of calendar year 2015 Longshore Act related cases from the Benefits Review Board and the federal courts of appeal that I found interesting. Crosby Forbes v....

As I noted last time, calendar year 2015 was a routine year for Longshore Act litigation. There were no cases decided at the U.S. Supreme Court and no new conflicts were created among the federal...

Here’s my third nomination for “landmark” case status on our Longshore scale of cases decided at the U.S. Supreme Court. But first, here’s parts of section 33 of the Longshore Act (33 U.S.C. 933).

I have a second case to nominate as a “landmark” U.S. Supreme Court Longshore Act case ( see the discussion of Northeast Marine Terminals Co., Inc. et al. v. Caputo, et al. from last time ). My...

There are decisions of the U.S. Supreme Court that are referred to as “landmarks”. These landmark decisions are significant events in history in their own right. They address/resolve/create national...

National Average Weekly Wage The U.S. Department of Labor has released Industry Notice No. 154, dated September 8, 2015. The Subject is: Maximum and Minimum Compensation Rates Under the Longshore...

This is a very important concept for all parties to a Longshore Act claim. There is a great deal at stake. If an injured worker meets his prima facie case, raising the section 20(a) presumption of...

This is a continuation of our discussion concerning the authority and responsibility of the U.S. Department of Labor’s District Directors in the adjudication/administration of claims under the...

The U.S. Department of Labor, which administers the Longshore and Harbor Workers’ Compensation Act, has a three step process for adjudicating claims. The first step is informal proceedings at the...

I’ve discussed the Defense Base Act (DBA) (42 U.S.C. 1651) on several previous occasions so I’ll just briefly review it here and then discuss one particular aspect. The DBA is a workers’...

Principal Skinner once introduced Lisa Simpson as, “The answer to the question nobody asked”. Yes, Lisa could occasionally be an annoying, obtrusive know it all. In that same vein, it has occurred...

How is the winner determined when a controverted Longshore case goes to a formal hearing at the Office of Administrative Law Judges? The ALJ considers all of the testimony and all of the...

Yogi Berra might have said this. “Some questions always come up, because they don’t come up that often.” You know. Sort of like, “Nobody goes there anymore. It’s too crowded”. Questions continue...

This is a continuation of our discussion of a contractor’s statutory liability for workers’ compensation benefits under section 4(a).Remember, section 4(a) deals with contractor liability in the...

We all have our favorite sections of the Longshore Act. There are the cryptic “status” and “situs” provisions of sections 2(3) and 3(a). There are the sweeping medical care provisions of section 7;...

Is it a good idea for an employer to monitor the post injury earnings of an employee to whom it is paying disability benefits under the Longshore Act? Yes. Does the Act provide a way to do this?...

Longshore Act question number 4 was discussed on the AEU Longshore Blog back on March 31, 2010. It’s finally occurred to me that the previous discussion needs to be updated.What is a vessel?Neither...

I’m surprised that I haven’t yet discussed the Aggravation Rule here at AEU’s Longshore Blog. So it’s about time. First, let’s start with the “Last Employer Rule”. This is a judge created rule that...

As we’ve frequently discussed, a worker must meet the maritime employment “status” test for Longshore Act coverage (section 2(3) of the Act), and he also must independently meet the “situs” or...