A dock builder was injured when he fell while stepping from a pier onto a barge. He applied for benefits under New York’s state workers’ compensation laws, but the employer and carrier made payments to claimant pursuant to the Longshore and Harbor Workers’ Compensation Act. At a hearing, the employer argued that the New York Workers’ Compensation Board had no jurisdiction over the claim. The New York Supreme Court, Appellate Division, Third Judicial Department disagreed. It found that there was “concurrent jurisdiction among state workers’ compensation laws and the LHWCA over claims arising from land-based injuries compensable under the LHWCA.” The court distinguished those cases falling under other federal schemes, like the Jones Act or Federal Employers’ Liability Act, which provides the “exclusive remedy” for such injuries.
Rodriquez v. Reicon Group, LLC, — N.Y.S.2d —-, 2010 WL 4117396 (App. Div. 2010).
(Note: I originally published this post on Navigable Waters: A Maritime, Longshore and Defense Base Act Blog.)
