In an unpublished decision, the Fifth Circuit addressed Longshore and Harbor Workers’ Compensation Act coverage for an employee cleaning beaches after the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. The facts were not disputed: On August 21, 2010, Global [Management Enterprise] employee Librado De La Cruz was allegedly injured while lifting a bag of oil-laden sand that would later be loaded onto a truck and transferred to a vessel for removal. It is undisputed that De La Cruz spent up to two hours actively loading and unloading the vessel at the pier, and six or seven hours cleaning the beaches. At the time of the incident, De La Cruz was working on a beach located a few feet from Gulf waters and around a half-mile from the pier at which the vessel docked. After his injury, Global’s insurer began paying state workers’ compensation benefits. De La Cruz then filed a Longshore Act claimRead more
Beach Cleanup Work Was Not Covered By the Longshore Act
Claimant alleged multiple health issues stemming from her work as an “oil recovery technician” in Prince William Sound in 1989. At that time, Claimant worked for Employer, which was contracted to conduct clean-up operations after the Exxon Valdez oil spill. Claimant’s employment required that she live aboard a cruise vessel located on the Prince William Sound. Each day, a small landing craft would take her to shore where she would use special equipment to clear the beach of oil. At the end of her day, Claimant would return to the cruise vessel which constituted her living quarters. Before a formal hearing took place, the administrative law judge asked for briefs on Longshore situs and status. Thereafter the judge granted summary decision in Employer’s favor, determining that Claimant did not meet the Longshore status requirements. Cleaning oil from beaches did not involve loading, unloading, constructing and/or repairing vessels. Ultimately the Benefits Review Board reversedRead more