A terrible accident occurred on the Trinity River near the Chambers-Liberty County line in Texas: A father from Daytona was driving his boat with his family on Mother’s day when tragedy struck. He was pulling his 3 children in an inner tube. As the boat was rounding a turn, it hit a partially submer …
READ MOREIn a recent case, the Fifth Circuit analyzed the “functional component” prong of its situs test for jurisdiction over Longshoremen and similar workers, concluding that the area where claimant was injured was not used in the vessel unloading process and therefore was not a covered situs under the Act …
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On March 10, 2014, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals issued a landmark opinion, Naquin v Elevating Boats, L.L.C., 744 F.3d 927 (5th Cir. 2014), further qualifying the “perils of the sea” seaman status requirement where it found a vessel repair supervisor to be a seaman even though he was rarely req …
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Taxes of a state, or political subdivision thereof, may not be deducted from a seaman’s or a fisherman’s wages except for seamen on voyages between ports in the same state who have a voluntary agreement with the employer to deduct them. See 46 USC 11108. This does not mean that a seaman or fisherman …
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Federal law (46 USCA 11108) exempts seamen’s wages from garnishment, and in the process thereof, immunizes the employer from any liability for refusing to honor any such garnishment. This exemption does not apply however to any garnishment or attachment arising out of divorce proceedings, such as al …
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In one of the more unique questions posed by the experienced Jones Act attorney, Dennis M. O’Bryan around the country, in McKinney v American River Transp. Co., 2013 WL 3270955 (S.D. Ill.), District Judge Reagan ruled that a seaman who left the vessel because of masturbation-induced headaches may be …
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After hard fought litigation by maritime attorney Dennis M. O’Bryan, the Chief Judge of the Mobile federal district court has ruled that seamen have the right to cancel, invalidate, and repudiate any assignment of wages going to a marine recruiting agency as long as the employer is told before the w …
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Against all odds, maritime attorney Dennis M. O’Bryan recently had the district court in Manhattan reversed by the Second Circuit Court of Appeals with the resulting ruling that the employer must pay maintenance and cure for a cancer condition that occurred while the seaman was in the service of the …
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The Supreme Court recently denied further review to a ruling Dennis M. O’Bryan achieved in the federal district court in Manhattan against Maersk Line, Ltd. (the largest shipping company) in the world – holding that crewmembers who receive maintenance and cure as well as unearned wages, are entitled …
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