In a matter of first impression, the Benefits Review Board (“BRB”) addressed “whether a claimant’s failure to disclose a pending compensation claim in bankruptcy proceedings can affect her right to pursue her claim under the [Longshore and Harbor Workers Compensation Act, as extended by the Defense Base Act].” In Sparks v. Service Employees Int’l, Inc., BRB No. 09-0649, the BRB reversed the Administrative Law Judge’s application of the judicial estoppel doctrine, reasoning that the plain language of Section 16 prevented the LHWCA/DBA claim from attachment by Claimant’s bankruptcy creditors. Specifically, the BRB stated, “[u]nder the plain language of Section 16, claimant’s claim is not an asset which can be attached by creditors, and the administrative law judge erred as a matter of law in relying on a discretionary [judicial estoppel] doctrine as a bases for denying benefits while ignoring an applicable statutory provision.”
(Note: I originally published this post on Navigable Waters: A Maritime, Longshore and Defense Base Act Blog.)
