[B]Date Decided[/B]: Dec 4th, 2009
[B]Decided By[/B]: Alabama Supreme Court (State)
[B]Court[/B]: Alabama State Supreme Court
[B]Citation[/B]: 39 So.3d 140
[B]Background[/B]:
Plaintiff was injured over a period of time due to random injuries sustained while working as a welder on his employer’s barges. Plaintiff sought damages pursuant to the Jones Act. Defendant (employer) alleged that plaintiff was not a Seaman and therefore is precluded from any recovery under the Jones Act. Defendant argued plaintiff was limited to recovery under the LHWCA because plaintiff was a shore-based maritime worker, not a Seaman under the Jones Act. During plaintiff’s employment, plaintiff performed the majority of his work on the shore or physically on barges that were not moving. The court noted that he “performed the bulk of his work either on land or on spud barges that were almost always spudded down and tied off.” The court also noted that the plaintiff was not exposed to the perils of the sea. Plaintiff slept and ate at his home every night and day, and therefore was not quartered on any vessel. Lastly, the court noted “He was never on a vessel in navigation while working for [his employer], and the only time he was on a barge that was moving was when the barge was being moved short distances along the shoreline by a crane.” Read More…