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If you are a seaman or offshore oil field worker and you are injured on the job the Jones Act and U.S. General Maritime Law provide strong protection of your rights - you may be entitled to a substantial money settlement.

 

A Seaman is a member of the crew of a vessel in "Navigable waters." This means vessels capable of movement in oceans, gulfs, bays, rivers, streams, lakes, ponds, intracoastal waterways, harbors, ports, and canals.

 

 

 

As well as others who work on ships, barges, tugs, tow boats, and offshore oil field workers - roustabouts, rough necks, tool pushers, and mud loggers.

If you suffer a serious injury on a drilling vessel, supply boat or barge, jack up rigs, lay barges, semi-submersibles, tankers, commercial shrimp boats and fishing vessels, container ships, cruise ships and some recreational vessels. Call Testa and Testa today... You may be entitled to a large cash settlement.

A "Seaman" has a substantial connection to the work of a particular vessel or a fleet of vessels, that contributes to the function or mission of the vessel(s). The law considers both the "duration" of the work as well as the "nature" of the work in determining whether or not a worker is a "Seaman."

 

 

 

 

Sometimes a "Seaman" is injured in port, off the ship(vessel) and yet the Jones Act and/or U.S. General Maritime Law applies just the same as if the injury had occurred on board. The test depends not on the "place of injury" but on the "Seaman's status" as a member of the vessel's crew. If you are a "Seaman" the Jones Act is a powerful law designed by Congress to provide special protection for you and your family.

 

Congress enacted the Jones Act to extend the same generous benefits to seamen and sailors that railroad workers enjoy.

In a Jones Act claim the injured crew members ("Seaman") must show that the "vessel" was negligent or that it was "unseaworthy" - unsafe -, that it lacked the proper equipment or that its equipment was defective or that the vessel was improperly manned and or that its equipment or management put crew members at unnecessary risks which resulted in serious injury.

The vessel owes Seamen a strict, absolute duty to provide a seaworthy vessel. A seaworthy vessel is one that is reasonably fit for its intended use, it should be a safe place to work and live. A seaworthy vessel should be equipped with appropriate saftey gear and equipment, safe recreation facilities, and a competent crew. In addition to holding a seaman's employer responsible for the negligent acts of its employees and officers, a seaman can recover if he can prove that the vessel was unseaworthy and that he was injured as a result.

 

 

 

 

 

A vessel that is unseaworthy does not mean that it is in danger of sinking. A vessel is unseaworthy if a piece of equipment breaks or is inoperable, the vessel's crew is too small or incomplete, not adequately trained, or a condition such as oil, grease or rust exists where it is not intended to exist and the unseaworthy condition is a direct cause of the injury to the seaman.

In other words, negligence focuses on acts of the seaman's employer, and unseaworthiness focuses on the condition or inadequacy of the vessel itself, including its crew and appurtenances.

Unlike the Jones Act , which brings claims against the seaman's employer, an unseaworthiness claim is made against the vessel (or vessel owner). In many cases those actions will be against the same party. An unseaworthiness claim will bring the vessel owner into a lawsuit as an additional source of recovery for the seaman. As with the Jones Act, an unseaworthtiness claim must be filed within three years of the injury, and must be combined with a Jones Act claim.

Unlike state worker's compensation laws - Jones Act seamen can sue their employers. You can sue the ship or vessel you were working on at the time of the injury.

And unlike state worker's compensation laws - under the Jones Act a Seaman can recover substantial money settlements to compensate you for pain and suffering and future lost wages and other loses.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Statute of Limitations for a Jones Act claim is generally three years from the date of the injury. There are exceptions to this general rule. Claims against the vessel owner for unseawothiness, must also be brought within three years from the date of the seaman's injury. However, state statutes can determine the time limits - so don't delay.

 

An injured worker under the Jones Act can recover the following legal damages:

1. Wages lost from the date of injury to the time of the trial.
2. Future lost wages
3. Medical expenses, past and future
4. Pain and Suffering, past and future
5. Mental anguish, past and future

 

 

If an injury causes the death of a seaman, the surviving widow or husband and children of the employee become the beneficiaries under the Jones Act. If the worker does not have a spouse or children, then the beneficiaries include the employee's parents. A personal representative such as an executor is entitled to bring an action that the worker (had he lived) would have possessed against his employer. The worker's cause of action against the employer does not die with the worker. In a death case, damages go to the seaman's survivors.

 

 

 

Workers on fixed offshore platforms are usually not considered "Seamen" - however, it depends on the particular facts and circumstances - its a legal issue that should be considered by a lawyer experienced in the Jones Act and U.S. General Maritime Law. Call Testa and Testa today for a FREE consultation.

Injured longshoremen, pilots, workers on fixed production platforms (artificial islands) typically come under the Longshoremen's and Harbor Workers Compensation Act (LHWCA). While the LHWCA provides benefits similar to state worker's compensation law, longshoremen and production platform workers can bring third party claims against negligent companies - other than the injured worker's employer.

Land based workers such as longshoremen who are injured on a vessel, but not members of the vessel's crew can sometimes bring third party claims against the vessel and/or the vessel's owners and operators when negligence or unsafe conditions aboard the vessel cause the injury.

 

Remember! Don't wait until it's too late! The law puts time limits on how long you can wait before bringing a case. The time limits and conditions vary from state-to-state and under Federal Law.

If you work offshore or aboard a ship or vessel, and have suffered a serious injury - call or e-mail us today for a FREE case evaluation.

Our lawyers will review the facts in your case, explain your legal rights and if we determine you have a case,