Status (2)

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...

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...

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 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,...

This is a continuation of a status discussion. Last time we considered why a “mail clerk” at a shipyard met Longshore Act status. This time, we’ll discuss the maritime status of a truck driver. ...

In the next two discussions, we’ll look at recent “status” cases involving perennial favorites, clerks and truck drivers. As we know, an employee must meet both the “status” and “situs”...

The Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (OCSLA) extends the provisions of the Longshore and Harbor Workers’ Compensation Act to disabilities or death resulting from any injury occurring as the result...

Courts use various methodologies to simplify factual analysis, organize the evaluation of evidence, recognize the triggering in shifts in the burden of proof, facilitate matching the facts of a case...

I don’t like the phrase “walking in and out of coverage”. It’s an artifact of the Longshore Act, pre-1972 Amendments version. The original 1927 statute had a single coverage requirement. An injury...

This is another discussion with regard to Status under section 2(3) of the Longshore and Harbor Workers’ Compensation Act (33 U.S.C. 902(3)). It’s about construction workers. This includes all of...

It’s time for the annual reminder to employers and brokers regarding the insurance requirement under the Longshore and Harbor Workers’ Compensation Act. First, what the Act says: 33 U.S.C....

The semi-annual AEU Safety and Claims Forum is coming up this October in San Francisco. These outstanding educational and networking events are attended by those with safety and claims...

I’ve occasionally referred to the fact that you do not always get the same answer to the same question from one federal circuit court of appeals to another with regard to certain issues arising...

A significant event in Longshore Act jurisprudence has just occurred. The federal Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals issued a decision on April 29, 2013, in the case of New Orleans Depot Services,...

II. 1927 – 1972 In 1927, finally convinced that the only way to provide workers’ compensation protection for land based workers injured over navigable waters was to enact a federal law, Congress...

Are employees of port authorities covered under the Longshore and Harbor Workers’ Compensation Act? This is a question that comes up regularly, but infrequently enough to seem novel. Of course, and...

Back on January 20, 2011, we discussed some Longshore Act coverage issues related to truck drivers. And on previous occasions we discussed the coverage “uncertainty zone” that exists as a...

It’s a common situation. Mixed duty workers spend part of their time doing maritime work, and they spend the rest of their time, maybe even the majority of their time, doing non-maritime work. The...

What about divers? Are they covered by the Longshore Act or are they crewmembers under the Jones Act and general maritime law? As usual, many coverage questions produce conditional opinions, and...

This question comes up regularly. And, as usual, I don’t have a straight answer; just some thoughts on how to deal with the question. So, leaving a discussion of “situs” for another time, do truck...