SuBSectionmeetinggrouPtoBeoFFeredonFederalworkerScomPenSationactS
Workers ’ Compensation Section Chairs : AnthonyV . Cortese – AnthonyV . Cortese , AttorneyatLaw , IreneRodriguez – IreneM . Rodriguez , PA & Ya ’ SheakaWilliams – Quintairos , Prieto , Wood & Boyer
The United States Supreme Court ruled in Southern Pacific v . Jensen , 244 U . S . 205 ( 1917 ), that a state workers compensation law could not apply on navigable waters , because navigable waters were under the jurisdiction of the federal government . Jensen was a truck driver who drove cargo from the port across a gangway to the ship to load a ship . He was killed in an accident in his truck , but on the ship . The Supreme Court held that the state did not have jurisdiction to pass a workers compensation law to cover Jensen ’ s claim . This gave rise to a number of federal acts to cover different types of work injuries , including the Longshore and Harbor Workers ’ Act , 33 U . S . C . Section 18.901 et seq . This article is not to provide a textbook of federal workers compensation laws , but to introduce a subsection meeting group of the HCBA Workers ’ Compensation Section to practitioners interested in practicing in this field .
Before COVID , a group of workers compensation practitioners in the section had periodic meetings to discuss issues and developments under certain federal workers compensation acts . It was a small
group who met at Alessi ’ s bakery in the breakfast room at 8:30 AM for a short meeting , sometimes with written materials . There were no CLE credits , just important information for practitioners in the field . The Port of Tampa and the Port of Mantatee have many employees who are loading and unloading ships and are covered under this act . Most ship building , maintenance and repair is also covered by this Act and is performed around Tampa Bay . Another topic was interplay with the Jones Act , a federal law that which covers the seamen who work primarily on ships . More recently , the Defense Base Act has become a factor , which covers certain civilians working overseas on U . S . Defense Bases in places like Iraq and Afghanistan . The benefits available to injured workers under these acts are typically more generous than state workers compensation , but the cases are either in a separate federal administrative system or in federal court with completely different procedural and substantive laws and systems than the state systems . Not knowing the differences in the rules can prejudice the claim . thebenefits availableto injuredworkers undertheseacts aretypically moregenerous thanstateworkerscompensation .
There are periodic decisions very relevant to the practice , like the determination of attorney ’ s fees for representatives of claimants , Harper v . TEMCO and Signal Mutual , BRB No . 22-0180 ( 12 / 14 / 2023 ), procedural changes that practitioners must be aware of that trigger fee entitlement . Fowler v . MTC East / Ports America , BRB No . 22-0199 ( 4 / 04 / 2024 ), and rulings on presumptions and surveillance and determinations of permanent total disability that practitioners must be aware of . Garcia v . National Steel and Shipbuilding , BRB No . 22-0084 ( 08 / 09 / 2023 ). The e-filing systems and applicable procedures have also been reshaped by COVID , and that process is continuing . We plan to renew the periodic informal morning events in the fall , to address cases like this , and the new e-filing systems that have become mandatory , and the interplay with the Jones Act and other important federal and state statutes . We invite any interested practitioner to attend , and we plan to send notice to HCBA Workers Compensation Section members . n
Join the Workers ’ compensation section at hillsbar . com .
Author : Anthony V . Cortese – Anthony V . Cortese , Attorney at Law
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