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 ship.
ASYMPTOMATIC CANCER CONDITION COMPENSABLE
The kicker in this ruling was that the seaman exhibited no symptoms until after he left the vessel for an unrelated reason. The shipowner, Bouchard in this case, argued that it should not be responsible for a condition that caused no observable adverse effects during the period of employment. The court said NO, that the evidence was that the cancer occurred or existed while he was on the vessel and because of that, the employer was responsible for maintenance and cure. The opinion can be found at Messier v Bouchard Transportation, 688 F.3d. 78 (2nd Cir. 2012). The shipping industry is up in arms over the ruling, but it takes us one step further in establishing complete justice for seamen.
