Jurisdiction

• Jurisdiction: Maryland

II. JURISDICTION

A. Generally

The basic statutory provisions of jurisdiction are set forth in 33 U.S.C. § 903 (LHWCA § 3) entitled "Coverage.''

The jurisdiction of the Act extends to all persons working on navigable waters (exclusive of crewmen of a vessel) as well as all maritime workers employed within the marine terminal who are not otherwise excluded, as set forth below.

B. Employees Covered by the Act⁷

The Act covers employees engaged in maritime employment, including longshoremen or other persons engaged in longshoring operations. Also covered are any harbor workers, including ship repairmen, ship builders, ship breakers, and workers performing maintenance and/or repair of equipment used in the handling of maritime cargo.⁸

An employee is covered even though he spends only a small portion of his work time in covered employment.⁹

C. Employees Not Covered by the Act¹⁰

1. Persons employed who are exclusively performing office, clerical, secretarial, security, or data processing work;
2. Individuals employed by a club, camp, recreational operation, restaurant, museum, or retail outlet;
3. Persons employed by a marina and who are not engaged in construction, replacement, or expansion of such marina (except for routine maintenance);
4. Persons employed by suppliers or transporters who are temporarily on the premises of the employer (such as ship's chandlers, deliverymen, salesmen).
5. Aquacultural workers;
6. Individuals employed to build, repair, or dismantle any recreational vessel under 65 feet in length (this change eliminates recreational marinas from coverage under the federal act);
7. A master or member of a crew of any vessel. The issue of who is a crew member has been the subject of much litigation. A barge crewman who usually lives ashore (and is, therefore, basically a shore-based worker) and who works on the barge has been afforded coverage under the Act.¹¹ See discussion in Section XV on page 410.
8. Any person engaged by a master to load, unload, or repair any small vessel under 18 tons net.

D. Additional Exclusions from Coverage

1. Officers or employees of federal, state, or foreign governments or any subdivision thereof are excluded from coverage.¹²
2. Persons who are injured solely as a result of intoxication or willful intention to kill themselves or another are excluded. However, the burden of proof placed on the employer is very strict.¹³
3. Persons such as those employed by recreational boatyards or engaged in building and repairing small vessels (less than 65 feet in length) are excluded. However, where the employer has received a federal subsidy, the employees are included in the federal act.¹⁴
4. Persons working in a floating restaurant.

E. Situs and Status Tests to Determine Jurisdiction

Prior to the 1972 Amendments, the Federal Compensation Law only covered employees who were afloat. All other employees working on docks and other waterfront facilities were covered by the appropriate state compensation act. However, the 1972 Amendments to the federal act, which extended the coverage ashore, raised many difficult questions addressed by the Supreme Court in Northeast Marine Terminal Co. v. Caputo.¹⁵ The Court found that to be within the jurisdiction of the Act, an injured employee must meet the test of situs as well as status.

The employee must be either afloat on navigable waters or must be ashore somewhere within the general terminal area normally utilized for maritime employment.

The employee must be an employee of a maritime employer and must also be at least partially involved in some form of maritime employment.

Disputes over jurisdiction of the federal act have primarily been concerned with the question of the status test. In P.C. Pfeiffer Co. v. Ford,¹⁶ the Supreme Court extended coverage to all maritime employees involved in the handling of maritime cargo in the vicinity of the port terminal. The Court rationalized that people moving cargo directly from ship to land transportation are engaged in maritime employment. It therefore rationalized that if a...