JCCJudiCiallunCHeonandliabilityCaSelawupdate
Workers’ compensation Section
Chair:AnthonyCortese–AnthonyV.Cortese,AttorneyatLaw
pleaseplanto
attendtheJCC
Judicialluncheon
onthursday,
october22.
The Tampa Bay Judges
of Compensation
Claims have set a JCC
Judicial Luncheon on
Thursday, October 22, through
our Section. Our event last spring
was canceled because of virus
shutdowns, but this time we are
prepared to convert to a virtual
event depending on the level of
virus activity and restrictions.
A primary topic will be practice
during a pandemic. We hope you
can attend this informative session.
Also of interest to our members:
there were two recent very
important appellate liability
decisions arising out of injuries
under the Longshore and Harbor
Workers Act. In the first, Hale v.
BAE Systems, 1 a wrongful death
lawsuit on behalf of an estate
against a third-party tortfeasor had
been settled, without permission
from the longshore employer/carrier.
The general rule is that if a third
party lawsuit is settled that arises out
of a longshore injury, the claimant
must obtain written permission
from the employer/carrier in
advance of the settlement, or
else any entitlement to additional
longshore benefits is terminated. 2
In the Hale case, the administrators
of the estate who signed to settle
the wrongful death case were the
daughters and not the widow, and
the widow argued that even though
she benefited from the settlement,
she did not sign the settlement
agreement and should not suffer
forfeiture of a longshore claim
for death benefits that she filed
later for her husband’s death.
The Administrative Law Judge
and Benefit Review Board ruled
against the widow. The Ninth
Circuit reversed in a 2-1 decision
that is unpublished, allowing the
widow to pursue longshore death
benefits despite the settlement
without permission of the
employer/carrier, a major
exception to a harsh penalty.
The second decision is more
limited in scope but of greater
precedential value, because it is
a unanimous decision from the
Eleventh Circuit, Troutman v.
Seaboard Atlantic. 3 Troutman
involved a longshoreman working
for a stevedore who filed a civil suit
against a shipowner under section
905(b) of the act, which allows
a lawsuit against a negligent
shipowner if the vessel was not
turned over to the stevedore in
a safe condition. The Eleventh
Circuit held, in a case of first
impression, that a shipowner does
not breach its duty to turn over
its vessel in a safe condition when
the injurious hazard was open
and obvious and could have been
avoided by a reasonably competent
stevedore. The ship in question
had an elevated walkway with a
six- to eight-foot drop on the ship’s
Continuedonpage59
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