Mississippi Maritime and Jones Act Injury Lawyer
Injured Working on the Water? Jones Act, Unseaworthiness and Longshore Claims for Mississippi Maritime Workers
Mississippi has the highest concentration of shipbuilding jobs in the country. Thousands of our neighbors work at the Pascagoula shipyards, on towboats and barges on the Mississippi River and the Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway, on offshore supply and crew boats in the Gulf, and on casino and passenger vessels along the coast. When those workers are hurt, ordinary workers’ compensation usually does not apply. Federal maritime law does – and it is far more favorable to the injured worker, if the claim is handled correctly. The Hamilton Law Firm handles maritime injury claims from our office in Meridian as part of our Mississippi personal injury practice.
The Jones Act
The Jones Act, 46 U.S.C. § 30104, allows a seaman injured in the course of employment to sue the employer for negligence and to have the case decided by a jury. Unlike workers’ compensation, a Jones Act claim pays full damages – lost wages and future earning capacity, medical expenses, and pain and suffering – and the employer is liable if its negligence played any part, however slight, in causing the injury. Common Jones Act claims involve unsafe decks and ladders, inadequate crew or training, defective equipment, failure to provide proper safety gear, unreasonable work hours, and injuries during cargo, towing or mooring operations.
Who Is a “Seaman”?
According to the United States Supreme Court, a worker is a seaman if the worker contributes to the function of a vessel or the accomplishment of its mission and has a connection to a vessel in navigation, or an identifiable fleet of vessels, that is substantial in both duration and nature. As a rule of thumb, a worker who spends roughly 30% or more of working time in the service of a vessel in navigation will usually qualify. Deckhands, tankermen, pilots, engineers, cooks and crew on towboats, offshore vessels and dredges are typical seamen. Whether a particular worker qualifies is fact-specific and is often the first battle in the case.
Unseaworthiness and Maintenance and Cure
A seaman has two additional remedies under general maritime law. The vessel owner owes an absolute duty to provide a seaworthy vessel – a ship, its equipment and its crew reasonably fit for their intended use – and is liable for injuries caused by an unseaworthy condition even without proof of negligence. Separately, the employer must pay maintenance (daily living expenses) and cure (medical care) from the date of injury until the seaman reaches maximum medical improvement, regardless of who was at fault. Employers that willfully withhold maintenance and cure can be liable for additional damages and attorney’s fees.
Shipyard, Dock and Harbor Workers: the Longshore Act
Workers who are not seamen – shipbuilders and ship repairers at yards such as Ingalls and Bollinger, longshoremen, and others injured on navigable waters or on piers, wharves, dry docks and terminals – are generally covered by the Longshore and Harbor Workers’ Compensation Act, a federal compensation system that pays medical benefits and wage-loss benefits at rates higher than Mississippi workers’ compensation. The Longshore Act also preserves a negligence claim against a vessel owner that is not the worker’s employer, which can add a full-damages case on top of compensation benefits.
Deadlines and Where the Case Is Filed
Jones Act and general maritime injury claims must be filed within three years of the injury under 46 U.S.C. § 30106. Longshore Act claims have their own notice and filing requirements measured in days and months, not years. Jones Act cases may be filed in state court under the “saving to suitors” clause, and a Jones Act case filed in state court generally cannot be removed to federal court – a strategic choice we make case by case.
How We Help Injured Maritime Workers
- Determine whether you are a seaman, a Longshore worker, or both, and which remedies apply.
- Preserve vessel logs, incident reports, Coast Guard reports and witness statements before they are lost.
- Enforce maintenance and cure immediately so you are not pressured back to work.
- Work with marine safety experts, vocational experts and economists to prove full damages.
- Try the case to a jury when the employer will not pay fair value. Our results include multi-million-dollar recoveries for catastrophically injured workers.
Maritime Injury FAQs
Can I be fired for filing a Jones Act claim?
Retaliation for asserting maritime injury rights can itself give rise to a claim. Tell us immediately if you are threatened.
Should I sign the company’s incident report or give a recorded statement?
Report the injury, but do not sign a detailed statement or a release before talking to a lawyer.
What if I was hurt on a barge or towboat on the Tenn-Tom or the Mississippi River?
Inland river and waterway crew are seamen just like offshore crew. Contact R. Kevin Hamilton at (601) 693-5548 for a free consultation. There is no fee unless we win.
