Houston Jones Act Attorney

The Houston Maritime Accident Attorneys of Grossman Law Offices Discuss the Jones Act and Personal Injury Claims in Work-Related Maritime Accidents

Part of the Merchant Marine Act of 1920, the Jones Act generally serves as a means to regulate shipping in America and speaks to guidelines covering United States maritime commerce.

Part of the provisions of the Jones Act were enacted in order to support the burgeoning U.S. maritime industry at the time by ensuring that products transported in U.S. waters and at American ports were done so by ships that were built in America, owned by Americans, or consisted of a crew of American citizen or permanent residents. More relevant to maritime accidents and current maritime personal injuries, the Jones Act includes laws that protect the rights of seaman injured or killed while on-the-job in the service of a vessel. The Houston Jones Act attorneys of Grossman Law Offices provide the following article to clarify the Jones Act and how other maritime-related legislation may affect an injured seaman’s ability to seek proper compensation for their injury. With a full understanding of the Jones Act and other laws pertaining to maritime accident injury cases, Michael Grossman can help you seek necessary compensation for a maritime injury or death.

The Basics of Jones Act Protection for Injured or Killed Maritime Workers

The Jones Act can cover maritime workers that suffer an injury or death, even if the injurious or fatal accident occurred on-shore, as long as the maritime employee was working in the service of a vessel on navigable waters. In such instances, the injured maritime worker must be proven to have been in such service in order for the Jones Act to apply.

Due to the somewhat antiquated nature of the terminology contained in the Jones Act, some of the terms may need clarification. A “seaman” is simply a maritime worker. A “ship owner” is a maritime employer. A “vessel” is the ship itself. However, the Jones Act did not provide a robust definition in regards to what constitutes a “vessel,” but case precedent has provided many examples of the types of maritime places of work that are considered vessels under the Jones Act. For example, such vessels can include barges, casino boats, some offshore oil rigs, tow boats, fishing boats, passenger ships, cruise ships, semi-submersible rigs, and other, similar types of floating vessels where employees may work.

In order for the Jones Act to apply to a maritime personal injury accident, the employee must have been working for a maritime employer at the time of the accident. While accidents on the seas are common, and will likely fall under the laws of the Jones Act, maritime employers can also become injured or killed while en route on land to another port, or as part of their duties of service to their employer. When such an accident occurs, the Jones Act can still apply, even if the injured or killed employee suffered the accident on land. However, assessing whether or not the Jones Act may apply to your specific maritime accident can prove challenging to Houston attorneys without knowledge regarding the Jones Act. Houston maritime accident attorney Michael Grossman can assist you in deciding if the Jones Act is applicable to your particular Houston maritime injury accident case.

What Defines a Seaman Under the Jones Act?

Four characteristics must exist in order for an employee to be classified as a seaman in regards to the Jones Act:

• The employee’s vessel must be in navigation. Navigation, in this instance, does not mean that the vessel must be moving; it simply means that the vessel is operational. Non-operational vessels and permanently moored vessels are not considered to be in navigation.
• The employee must have a permanent connection in nature and time to their employer’s vessel or fleet of vessels owned by the same entity. Permanent does not equal continual.
• The accident itself does not decide whether or not the injured worker is considered a seaman, but the employee’s relationship with a vessel or group of vessels in conjunction with the circumstances of the accident as well as the employee’s duties are all considered when identifying an injured employee as a seaman in regards to the Jones Act.
• The injured employee must have been on the vessel in order to perform specific duties related to the vessel’s functioning or reason for being.

These characteristics are used to determine whether or not an injured worker is a maritime employee or a land-based employee, since different sets of laws will apply to each injured worker. For example, an employee of a Houston oil company that visits a barge in the Gulf of Mexico and is injured while on the barge is not considered a seaman and, consequently, will not be afforded the protections due to a seaman under the Jones Act. On the other hand, an oil company employee that works on the barge and must report to their headquarters on land who suffers an injury while in transit to their land-based destination could be considered a seaman, and the protections afforded by the Jones Act would apply to that worker. Defining what constitutes a seaman in regards to the Jones Act can be a highly technical matter that is dependent on more than a few aspects of the accident. Furthermore, shipping companies and other employers may create employment contracts that specifically work to undermine the idea that a maritime worker is a seaman so that the worker remains uninformed about their possible legal options should an accident occur. With the help of an experienced Houston Texas Jones Act attorney like Michael Grossman, you can learn the details regarding your possible status as a seaman so that you might be able to seek compensation through the Jones Act.

Damages Covered in Jones Act Maritime Accident Cases

The goal of a personal injury accident case is for the injured victim to receive compensation from the liable party because of the damages incurred by the victim due to the defendant’s negligent behavior. Damages are better thought of as financial losses, since damages does not refer to the actual damage of an injury. Damages can assume many forms, but damages in Jones Act cases take three distinct forms:

• Maintenance refers to the employer’s obligation to compensate the injured victim for expenses like room and board during the employee’s recovery or while the employee is not able to work. Damages in regards to maintenance is a somewhat antiquated notion, held over from the times in which the Jones Act was passed in which many maritime workers did not have a permanent residence on land. As such, an employer would have to provide money for an injured maritime worker to secure room and board on land so that they could recover. In modern days, a majority of maritime workers do have permanent residences on land, but a maritime employer can still be held liable for maintenance damages through the Jones Act. However, the standard amount of compensation for such maintenance damages has not been increased in decades, with the amount currently sitting at between $15 to $30 per day. An experienced Houston Jones Act attorney will likely be able to argue for maintenance damages that are equivalent to modern day needs, or else an injured victim may not receive adequate compensation for their recovery or time off from work.
• Cure refers to the employer’s obligation to compensate an injured victim for their medical expenses as a result of the maritime accident. When cure damages in Jones Act cases are not given out, a separate lawsuit may be necessary in order to compel a non-compliant employer or other liable party to be held properly accountable for such damages. This often occurs when cure damages have not been properly awarded and an injured seaman’s condition has worsened due to lack of proper medical attention.
• Personal injury damages refer to damages commonly sought in normal personal injury cases. These types of damages can include medical expenses, both past and future, loss of quality of life, compensation for pain and suffering, impairment, disfigurement, or other types of damages that can be incurred in maritime personal injury accidents.

As an important side note, the Jones Act does not explicitly state that an employer is responsible for maintenance or cure damages. These damages are more of a holdover of case law and tradition rather than stemming from a specific statute in the Jones Act. However, such damages can be sought with the help of an experienced Jones Act law firm in Houston, but such a law firm must know to request such damages, since a defense team for a liable employer will not volunteer to compensate an injured seaman for such damages without the victim’s legal representation bringing such damages to the fore. In other words, such a defense team will hope that the opposition they face will not be familiar enough with the Jones Act to request such compensation. The Houston maritime accident law firm of Grossman Law Offices understands the Jones Act, and can help you seek full compensation for your injury.

Laws That Apply to Houston Offshore Accidents

When a maritime accident occurs on the water causing injury to a worker, there could possibly be four different types of law that may apply to such an accident: Jones Act law, workers comp law, longshore and harbor workers comp law, or general maritime law. In some instances, multiple laws may overlap, causing legal gray areas that can be confusing or tricky for lesser-experienced law firms. Additionally, well-trained defense attorneys can use these multiple laws and statutes to find legal loopholes that may allow them to help their clients skirt liability for a maritime accident.

Furthermore, knowledgeable employers may attempt to get an injured seaman to file a workers’ compensation claim or pursue some other type of legal recourse since they’re aware that legal action through the Jones Act will likely result in a larger amount of compensation due to an injured worker. In other words, an injured seaman could stand to be awarded more compensation through a Jones Act claim than through other possible legal routes. This is one of the main reasons that a negligent employer may attempt to steer an injured worker away from filing a personal injury claim against them through the Jones Act. In many instances when seeking compensation against a negligent party, enlisting the help of an experienced Houston personal injury attorney as soon as possible after the accident can provide you with information and guidance that can help you make beneficial decisions regarding your personal injury accident case. For example, if you’ve suffered an injury due to a maritime accident, we can apprise you of your possible legal options so that you’re not taken advantage of by an employer or an insurance agency that would rather make quick and cost-effective work of your claim.

Common Defenses to Jones Act Claims

Since Jones Act personal injury claims are a highly specialized subsection of personal injury law, the defense attorneys employed by a liable employer or their insurance agency will likely be well-trained and highly-experienced in maritime law. Since compensation received through the Jones Act could be quite a sizable sum, defense attorneys will work toward one goal: releasing their client from as much liability as possible so that they do not have to pay out such valuable compensation. In order to exorcise as much liability for their client, they will attempt to pin as much blame as possible onto any other entity involved in the accident, whether that’s the victim, a co-worker, a defective safety device, or an act of God. If such liability can be deferred, a settlement package could be dramatically whittled down. If the victim can be shown to have been mostly responsible for the accident, then the case could stand to be thrown out, resulting in the injured victim receiving no compensation whatsoever. Defense attorneys can argue the following in an attempt to push liability onto the injured victim:

• Attempted suicide
• Fighting
• Gross inebriation or drunkenness
• Willful disobedience of the law, also known as willful misconduct
• Willful acts of seaman
• Willful concealment of a pre-existing condition, also known as the McCorpen Defense

The McCorpen defense can be argued if an injured victim’s pre-existing condition was not disclosed prior to their hiring. However, such concealment may or may not have been purposeful. If a worker purposefully concealed their pre-existing condition and the condition contributed to a maritime accident or caused an injury in such an accident to be much worse than normal, then the defense can use the McCorpen defense to exonerate their client and have the case dismissed or the compensation package severely lessened. While such an argument sounds as if it would occur in rare instances, such an argument may still be used, in addition to the ones also previously mentioned, in many Jones Act personal injury cases. Defense attorneys will use any tools at their disposal in order to help their clients.

Employers can also claim that they either weren’t aware of a possible hazardous situation or did not have adequate time to rectify a dangerous work zone. For example, if deck hands on a cruise ship cleaned the decks of water that could have caused a fall, then water later falls into the same area and an employee slips and suffers an injury, an argument could be made that the employer did not have a reasonable amount of time to rectify the possibly hazardous situation. However, if a reasonable amount of time had passed and no steps had been taken to clean up the water and in injury accident occurs, then the employer could be held liable.

Plaintiffs in personal injury cases bear the burden of proof. This means that their legal representation must be able to prove that the negligence of a liable party was a proximate cause of the victim’s injury resulting in damages being incurred. As opposed to workers compensation claims, where simply being hurt while on the job will likely lead to some type of compensation, injured victims seeking compensation through the Jones Act must be able to prove that a liable party’s negligence was a contributing factor, or proximate cause, of their injury in order for compensation to be rightfully awarded.

The Jones Act and the Limitations Liability Act of 1851

The Limitations Liability Act of 1851 sets limitations, or caps, on the amount of compensation that a vessel owner is responsible for in the event of a maritime accident. Although this act is old and was created before insurance policies were a mainstay in society, the Limitations Liability Act of 1851 still applies to some Jones Act accident cases. As a result of the caps instituted by this act, a vessel owner cannot hold unlimited liability for a maritime accident causing injury or death. The value of a claim is limited to the shareholder’s or owner’s respective percentage stake in the value of the vessel and its cargo at the end of a voyage.

More technically, a defendant must create a trust in which an amount equal to their share of the final value of the vessel is placed. If a verdict results in a vessel owner owing a plaintiff more than the amount of compensation placed into the trust, then the trust is increased at an amount limited to $420 per gross ton. Since the dollar amount of this trust is based on the value of the vessel and its cargo, many defendants may attempt to purposefully undervalue their ships or cargo, or their percentage of ownership, so as to have less financial exposure in the event of a maritime accident. In these highly technical matters, it can prove beneficial to have the legal help of experienced Houston Texas maritime attorneys that can assess whether or not the amount of compensation placed into the trust is adequate to cover the amount of damages incurred by the victim.

For the limitations act to be used effectively by a defense, the limitation must be filed within six months of the defense having received notice that a Jones Act claim has been filed against their client. Once the plaintiff has filed a Jones Act claim, the defense must then file the limitation act in the same court where the plaintiff filed suit. If a plaintiff has not filed such a suit, the defendant can file the limitation in the court where the vessel is docked. If the vessel is not docked, the limitation can be filed in any district’s court.

Maritime Wrongful Death and the Jones Act

Houston maritime wrongful deaths may fall under four different types of law, depending on the circumstances of the wrongful death accident and the relationship of the victim to the liable party or parties. The Jones Act, state law (like workers comp law), the Death on the High Seas Act, and general maritime law can all apply to maritime wrongful deaths in Houston.

When a maritime employee dies while working for a vessel, the Jones Act and the Death on the High Seas Act (DOTHSA) may apply. The Death on the High Seas Act applies to deaths that occur more than three nautical miles off shore. Maritime employees that are killed while working for employers covered by workers compensation insurance can seek compensation through the workers comp policy. If an employer’s gross negligence contributed to a maritime wrongful death, then the bereaved family could pursue a wrongful death claim against a subscriber to workers comp. If another party or a mechanical failure contributed to a death, the bereaved family could seek compensation from the negligent party through general maritime law. In some instances of Houston maritime wrongful deaths, all of these various laws and statutes could apply to the same accident case. In many wrongful death cases that occur in Houston maritime accidents, there can often be mutliple liable parties, who may all be litigated against using the different types of laws mentioned in this article. As such, having an experienced and knowledgeable Houston Jones Act lawyer like Michael Grossman can be beneficial toward your family receiving the compensation you deserve for your loss.

Houston maritime wrongful deaths can often involve highly complex accident scenes that may involve multiple parties who may all be liable through various sets of laws. As such, an experienced Houston maritime lawyer will ensure that a thorough investigation into such an accident site is conducted such that all liable parties are identified in order for them to be held properly accountable for their negligent behavior. While some law firms may wait for the Occupational Safety and Health Administration to perform an investigation, our law firm is keen on conducting our own investigations with an eye toward building a strong and robust case on your behalf using relevant evidence.

Contact the Houston Jones Act Attorneys at Grossman Law Offices if You’ve Been Injured in a Maritime Accident

Maritime accidents causing injury or death can have a devastating toll on an injured victim or a bereaved family. As such, the aggrieved party can seek compensation for their sustained injury or loss through a personal injury lawsuit or wrongful death lawsuit brought forth through the various laws and acts mentioned in this article. In Jones Act claims, the help of an experienced maritime accident lawyer can be beneficial toward proving that your accident claim falls within the Jones Act. Furthermore, a knowledgeable maritime injury lawyer can assist you in identifying which laws are applicable in regards to your particular accident case so that you can stand to receive full and proper compensation for your injury or loss. Jones Act claims can be quite complex, for a variety of reasons. The defensive teams encountered while seeking compensation for a maritime accident will often be stout and well-trained to defend their clients rights. Ensure that your rights are defended as aggressively when necessary by contacting the Houston, TX Jones Act lawyer at Grossman Law Offices at 1-855-392-0000 (toll free). With free legal consultations where you can receive specific answers to your pressing questions, we’re ready to help you on your way toward proper compensation for your maritime accident injury.