Individuals who work offshore and on the water must be very careful when they sustain an injury at work. Most of these individuals will qualify as "seamen" under a Federal statute known as the Jones Act. The Jones Act allows an injured maritime worker to file a tort-based lawsuit against their employer and seek all damages caused by the injury including pain and suffering, lost wages and loss of fringe benefits. However, in order to file suit under the Jones Act the maritime worker must first meet the definition of a "seaman" under the Jones Act. This definition states that the employee must be "more or less permanently assigned to a vessel or fleet of vessels in navigation."
The initial requirement is that the injured employee be "more or less permanently" assigned to vessels or fleets of vessels. The more or less permanently has generally been interpreted to mean that the employee spends at least 30% of his working time aboard a vessel or fleet of vessels. This has come to be known as the "30% Rule". Usually this initial requirement is one of the easier requirements for the employee to satisfy since most maritime workers either spend a great deal of their time aboard vessels or they work land-based or fixed-platform jobs.
The second requirement in order to satisfy the definition of a "seaman" is that the employee must be assigned to work aboard a "vessel". Any type of traditional vessel such as a tug boat, crew boat, supply boat or other clearly defined United States Coast Guard vessels certainly satisfy this second requirement. However, in the Gulf of Mexico very many special purpose structures such as jack-up drilling rigs, semi-submersible drilling rigs and drill ships also have been defined as a vessel under the Jones Act. The United States Supreme Court has stated that any structure that is "practically capable of navigation" can meet the definition of a vessel under the Jones Act.
It should also be noted under the definition of vessel that the employee does not necessarily have to be assigned to one specific vessel. The Jones Act allows an employee to qualify as a seaman even if he is assigned to several vessels which constitute a fleet of vessels. However, there is a requirement that this fleet of vessels be under common ownership or control. In other words, typically individuals who are randomly assigned to vessels owned, operated and controlled by many different parties will have a difficult time establishing that they were assigned to a fleet of vessels under common ownership or control. Austin wireline workers as well as other specialized workers in the Gulf of Mexico face this challenge in satisfying the definition of a seaman under the Jones Act.
The third requirement in order to satisfy the definition of a seaman under the Jones Act is that the individual be assigned to a vessel that is "in navigation". This requirement has been very broadly defined and essentially means any individual that is in some way contributing to the mission of the vessel, a term that is also broadly defined. Typically the "in navigation" requirement will easily be met.
Satisfying the definition of a seaman under the Jones Act can be critically important for an injured Maritime worker to fully recover due to an injury offshore. Only by meeting the definition of a seaman will the injured employee be allowed to file suit under the Jones Act. And only under the Jones Act will the injured employee collect lost wages, pain and suffering, past and future medical expenses as well as other compensation for his injury. If the injured employee does not meet the definition of a seaman, he will not be allowed to file a negligence, tort type lawsuit against his employer. Instead, he will be restricted to recovering only workers' compensation type benefits which typically do not fairly compensate the employee.
The initial requirement is that the injured employee be "more or less permanently" assigned to vessels or fleets of vessels. The more or less permanently has generally been interpreted to mean that the employee spends at least 30% of his working time aboard a vessel or fleet of vessels. This has come to be known as the "30% Rule". Usually this initial requirement is one of the easier requirements for the employee to satisfy since most maritime workers either spend a great deal of their time aboard vessels or they work land-based or fixed-platform jobs.
The second requirement in order to satisfy the definition of a "seaman" is that the employee must be assigned to work aboard a "vessel". Any type of traditional vessel such as a tug boat, crew boat, supply boat or other clearly defined United States Coast Guard vessels certainly satisfy this second requirement. However, in the Gulf of Mexico very many special purpose structures such as jack-up drilling rigs, semi-submersible drilling rigs and drill ships also have been defined as a vessel under the Jones Act. The United States Supreme Court has stated that any structure that is "practically capable of navigation" can meet the definition of a vessel under the Jones Act.
It should also be noted under the definition of vessel that the employee does not necessarily have to be assigned to one specific vessel. The Jones Act allows an employee to qualify as a seaman even if he is assigned to several vessels which constitute a fleet of vessels. However, there is a requirement that this fleet of vessels be under common ownership or control. In other words, typically individuals who are randomly assigned to vessels owned, operated and controlled by many different parties will have a difficult time establishing that they were assigned to a fleet of vessels under common ownership or control. Austin wireline workers as well as other specialized workers in the Gulf of Mexico face this challenge in satisfying the definition of a seaman under the Jones Act.
The third requirement in order to satisfy the definition of a seaman under the Jones Act is that the individual be assigned to a vessel that is "in navigation". This requirement has been very broadly defined and essentially means any individual that is in some way contributing to the mission of the vessel, a term that is also broadly defined. Typically the "in navigation" requirement will easily be met.
Satisfying the definition of a seaman under the Jones Act can be critically important for an injured Maritime worker to fully recover due to an injury offshore. Only by meeting the definition of a seaman will the injured employee be allowed to file suit under the Jones Act. And only under the Jones Act will the injured employee collect lost wages, pain and suffering, past and future medical expenses as well as other compensation for his injury. If the injured employee does not meet the definition of a seaman, he will not be allowed to file a negligence, tort type lawsuit against his employer. Instead, he will be restricted to recovering only workers' compensation type benefits which typically do not fairly compensate the employee.
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