<- Back to the Legal Right of Commercial Divers
Wrongful Death Claims under the Jones
Act and General Maritime Law
The Jones Act provides a remedy for seamen who are
fatally injured during the course of their employment. If
an injury causes the death of a seaman, the surviving
widow or husband and children of the employee become
the benefciaries under the Jones Act. If the worker does
not have a spouse of children, then the benefciaries
include the employee’s parents.
A personal representative, such as an executor, is entitled
to bring an action that the diver (had he lived) would
have possessed against his employer. The worker’s
cause of action against the employer does not die with
the diver. In death cases, damages go to the seaman’s
survivors. This remedy is available only to the personal representative of a seaman and the action can be brought
only against the seaman’s employer.
Because the Jones Act is the exclusive remedy available
to the family of a seaman killed by his employer’s
negligence, state statutes regarding wrongful death
cannot be utilized. If, however, the seaman’s death is
caused by the negligence of someone, in whole or in part,
other than the employer, the diver’s representative can
bring an action under the general maritime law which, in
most cases, is similar to state wrongful death statutes.
Additionally, seamen killed as a result of the
unseaworthiness of a vessel owned by his employer, or
a third-party, have an action under the general maritime
law. Finally, a seaman (or anyone else) killed outside the
territorial waters (beyond three nautical miles) has an
action under the Death on the High Seas Act, which can
be found at 46 United States Code, Section 72.
The family of a seaman killed as a result of negligence
or the unseaworthiness of a vessel is entitled to recover
funeral expenses, loss of fnancial support, value of lost
services, loss of probable inheritance for children and
loss of nurture, care, guidance, support and training.
Additionally, the seaman’s estate can recover for pre-
death conscious pain and suffering.
If the incident occurred aboard a fxed platform, either in
state territorial waters or on the Federal Outer Continental
Shelf waters, the law of the adjacent state would apply.
Therefore, if a diver is killed off of the coast of Louisiana
while aboard a fxed platform, the wrongful death laws
of Louisiana would apply. On the other hand, should the
incident occur on Federal waters, beyond three miles of
the shoreline, the Death on the High Seas Act (DOHSA)
would apply.
If the incident occurs within state territorial waters, either
state law or a remedy created by the general maritime law
would apply.
Suffce it to say, wrongful death in a maritime setting
is perhaps the most complex, contradictory, and
overlapping area of admiralty litigation. Depending on
the act sued under, certain remedies will or will not be
available. For example, under the Jones Act, a wife’s
claim for “loss of society” is not available. Conversely,
if the death occurs as a result of an incident occurring on a fxed platform in Louisiana waters or in federal
waters off the coast of Louisiana, the State of
Louisiana’s wrongful death statute would provide the
“loss of society” remedy. Because of the complexities
associated with wrongful death litigation in a maritime
setting, it is strongly advised that the family of a
deceased diver contact legal counsel experienced in
admiralty litigation.
