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...

There are several sections in the Longshore Act that provide for civil or criminal fines and penalties. These provisions variously apply either to claimants or employers as specified. Here’s a list...

Section 20 of the Longshore and Harbor Workers’ Compensation Act (33 U.S.C. 920) contains several key presumptions. It states:In any proceeding for the enforcement of a claim for compensation under...

I think that this is a good time to mention again a longstanding but perennially overlooked coverage concept. (I resisted the urge to use Perini-ally overlooked. You’re welcome.) It’s a...

I recently referred to a case which involved modification under section 22 of the Longshore Act (33 U.S.C. 922). In this case, the federal Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals confirmed that modification...

This is the conclusion of a brief review of some interesting Longshore Act and Jones Act cases that were decided in calendar year 2014. William C. Skye v. Maersk Line, 11th Circuit, 5/15/14 This...

I mentioned last time that calendar year 2014 was relatively quiet for Longshore Act jurisprudence at the federal appellate level. There were no decisions at the U.S. Supreme Court. There were,...