What is the Definition of a Seaman Under the Jones Act
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 first requirement that the maritime worker be more or less permanently assigned to the vessel is generally defined as requiring the worker to spend at least 30 percent of his working time aboard vessels. Many cases have addressed this issue and, over time, the courts have held that a worker who spends 30 percent or more of his time on vessels will meet this requirement of the Jones Act. It is commonly referred to as the “30 Percent Rule”.
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.
One other issue that is often addressed in regard to whether or not an employee is assigned to a “vessel” relates to whether the employee is assigned to multiple vessels. In other words, a maritime employee can also meet the definition of a seaman if he is assigned to a fleet of vessels (as opposed to one specific vessel) provided that the fleet of vessels are under common ownership or control. Very often a maritime employee will be assigned to work on various, multiple vessels but these vessels together will qualify as a “fleet of vessels” under the definition of a seaman under the Jones Act.
The last requirement necessary for a maritime worker to satisfy the definition of a seaman under the Jones Act is for the maritime worker to be assigned to a vessel “in navigation”. This requirement has been broadly defined and as long as the maritime worker generally contributes to the mission of the vessel the courts have held that the vessel is “in navigation”. Even if the vessel is temporarily moored or even stationary in the Gulf of Mexico as is common with special purpose vessels such as jack-up drilling rigs and lift boats, these structures will still be deemed “in navigation” even though they are not technically moving.
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.
Looking to find the most information on the definition of a seaman, then visit www.jonesactlaw.com to find the best advice on maritime law for you.
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