LHWCA Claim Rejected Due to Insufficient Evidence

A longshore worker who filed a claim under the Longshore and Harbor Workers’ Compensation Act claiming negligence has had his claim rejected due to insufficient evidence. The man, who worked for a stevedoring company, alleged that he suffered injuries when he fell from a rope ladder on a vessel.

According to his claim, as he was going down the ship side, the ladder came loose and he fell onto the deck of a barge that was situated right next to the vessel.

The man filed a complaint under the Longshore Harbor Workers’ Compensation Act alleging that a crew member of the vessel had loosened a tie in the ladder causing his fall. The owner of the vessel moved for summary judgment. After an investigation, it was found that the Jacob’s ladder had been fully secured to the handrail of the vessel. Moreover, U.S. Coast Guard inspectors had found no deficiencies when they had boarded the vessel just one day before this accident.

The court rejected the worker’s argument that the vessel owner or vessel had any duty to furnish a seaworthy vessel to the worker, because he was a longshore worker. The court also rejected his claim of negligence, finding that there was not enough evidence to support his claim that the ladder that he fell from was defective in any way.

The court granted the vessel owner’s motion for summary judgment, and rejected the worker’s LHWCA claim.

The maritime law lawyers at Schechter, Shaffer & Harris, L.L.P., Accident & Injury Lawyers  represent injured longshoremen, dockworkers, stevedores, and other workers covered under the Longshore and Harbor Worker’s Compensation Act.