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Posted in Jones Act,Maritime Law,Maritime Lawsuits,Texas Maritime News on September 1, 2010
HARRIS COUNTY, TEXAS – Gordon & Elias, LLP, Houston maritime lawyers, represent a 24 year old woman from Houston, Texas, who was working as a seaman onboard the M/V The American Tern at the time of the incident. The Plaintiff was mopping in a passage way in keeping with her responsibilities as a steward assistant when suddenly another seaman came through the steel door she was mopping in front of. The steel door struck Plaintiff in the back causing her to sustain serious and disabling injuries. The incident occurred on July 31, 2009.
PLAINTIFF:
Plaintiff is a 24 year old steward assistant who worked for M/V The American Tern at the time of the incident. The plaintiff lives in Houston, Texas and has not been able to return to work since this incident due to the injuries she sustained.
INJURIES SUSTAINED:
MRI reveals herniated disc at L5/S1. Plaintiff’s surgeon has recommended a partial disectomy L5/S1.
DEFENDANTS:
Apl Maritime, Ltd., whose company is categorized under Deep Sea-Foreign Transport of Freight, is a Delaware corporation whose headquarters are located in Bethesda, Maryland. Tern Shipping Corporation is a Delaware corporation whose headquarters are located in Bethesda, Maryland.
COMMENTS:
The Jones Act allows an injured employee to file suit directly against their employer, and collect money damages, for any of their employer’s negligence which may have caused or contributed to the employee’s injury. If the company, or a co-employee, was at fault in causing or contributing to your accident and injury, as was the case in Ms. Griffin’s incident, you can collect compensation from your employer for your injury and damages. This law is very different than the general rule that an employee cannot sue their employer even if the employer caused his injury.
There are two important points to remember in regard to a suit against an employer under the Jones Act. First, in order to recover under the Jones Act it must be proven that the employer or co- employees were negligent. The Jones Act is a fault based statute, meaning that you only collect damages if your employer was at fault. This fault can take many forms including the improper or unsafe acts of your co-employees, an unsafe workplace, or unsafe or improper instructions. It is often easy to show that the injury could have been avoided if the company acted in a safer manner.
The Jones Act allows an injured worker to sue his employer for:
Unlike the workers’ compensation scheme, maritime law allows for the recovery of maintenance & cure benefits. The failure of the employer to pay for a seaman’s medical care or his “down time” due to an injury or illness, may give rise to a claim for punitive damages under the Atlantic Sounding case decided by the United States Supreme Court. Often times the employee is not aware of these benefits. Also, the Jones Act offers an injured employee a far greater scope for recovery; but it is a fault based system as compared to workmans’ compensation which is not fault based. That is why you need representation early.
The Jones Act applies to employees who are injured in the service of a vessel or fleet of vessels, when they contribute to the mission of this vessel. Under current law, a vessel includes: jack-up rigs, semi-submersible rigs, ships, drill barges, drill ships, spud barges, hopper barges, tankers, tugs, towboats, river casino’s, tug boats, shrimp boats, fishing boats, trollers, crew boats, utility boats, supply boats, floaters, offshore support vessels, water taxies and a host of other types of vessels. If the injured worker is working aboard one of these vessels, and their work contributes, in any way, to the overall mission of that vessel, then they are entitled to sue their employers and/or co-employees for injuries.