Jones Act and Work Injury Attorney - Washington Admiralty Lawyers

Working at sea is a challenging life. Long hours, difficult and heavy workloads, loneliness and all of the struggles that come with living on sometimes-choppy waters can lead to a wearing down of workers that puts them in a position of vulnerability. As a result, workers get injured quite often and find themselves unable to work for varying periods of time.

Below you'll find an overview of the injured worker tenets covered by the Jones Act, which is one of the federal statutes that deal with sea worker safety. You'll find information regarding which workers are covered by the Jones Act, which incidents fall under its jurisdiction, the remedies available to injured workers and how to proceed if you or someone you love has suffered as a result of an injury at sea.

Who is Covered under the Jones Act

The Jones Act is relatively specific in terms of which workers and injured parties it covers. Specifically, those who are protected by this law include a ship's crew and the crew masters as well as anyone else who has what is considered a substantial connection with a sea-faring vessel or an entire fleet of them. In general, if a worker spends more than 30% of his or her time on a vessel that travels on the sea will be protected by the Jones Act.

What Incidents are Covered - Jones Act Washington and Alaska

Generally, any incident that involves an injury to a worker who qualifies for protection under the Jones Act will be governed by the Jones Act. This includes injuries sustained:
  • While at sea
  • While in a temporary port prior to the ultimate destination
  • While preparing to depart
  • Loading or unloading the vessel
There are other incidents that would be covered, but the basic premise is that any injury that occurs in connection with the travel of a ship or a fleet member will generally fall under jurisdiction of the Jones Act.

Remedies Available for Injured Workers

The Jones Act lays out several different forms of remedies available to workers who are injured at sea or in connection with a seafaring vessel. These damages are explained below:
  • Transportation and wages - Transportation and wages as laid out in the Jones Act concern the employer's duty to pay for an injured worker's transportation to and from a medical care facility and to continue to pay his or her wages until the originally scheduled voyage is complete.

  • Maintenance and cure - Maintenance and cure are costs that are also paid by the employer of an injured sea worker. These costs cover living expenses, medical costs and other items. Maintenance is a term that's used in the sea-faring vernacular, and it describes basic room and board. Cure deals with the employer's duty to pay for medical costs associated with the work injury until the injured worker has reached a point where his or her condition is as healed as possible.

  • Pain and suffering - Pain and suffering is a form of damages that's most often sought and awarded in traditional personal injury cases, and these damages are also available for an injured sea worker. The injured worker can seek these damages if the employer was negligent in providing the worker reasonably safe working conditions, and they are awarded in much the same way as they would be in a personal injury case.

  • Unseaworthy - Additional benefits and damages are available to workers who are injured or survivors of workers who are killed if either the vessel used or the crew put together to staff the vessel are deemed by the court to not be proper in terms of the intended use of the ship, the nature of the mission involved and the type of workers used in furtherance of the original method. This is more of a court-created form of damages, but it can arise within the context of litigation under the Jones Act.

Work Injury and the Jones Act in Washington

Although most would recognize that a worker who is injured at sea should be entitled to help if he or she is unable to earn an income, bringing claims under the Jones Act can be extremely complicated for several reasons. Therefore, if you or someone you love has been harmed as a result of working at sea, you owe it to yourself and those you love to seek legal help in regards to your situation.

Contact the admiralty lawyers at Phillips Webster today to schedule a free initial consultation, as the attorneys at the firm have years of experience in helping clients fight for and obtain justifiable recoveries under the Jones Act and general maritime law claims.

Washington Injury Lawyer - Jones Act Attorney

The Jones Act is a law that governs injuries suffered by workers at sea among other things, and the law governs who is covered by the statute, what sort of incidents are covered and the types of remedies available, including transportation and wages, maintenance and cure, pain and suffering and claims for an unseaworthy situation. Contact Phillips Webster today to schedule a free initial consultation.
 



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