You deserve fair compensation for your injuries if you’ve been hurt in a dredging vessel accident.
As you already know, working on a dredging vessel involves significant risks as crews operate heavy machinery and equipment in challenging marine environments. When accidents occur—whether from equipment failures, deck hazards, or vessel collisions—injuries can be severe and recovery times lengthy. The financial strain of medical bills and lost wages creates tremendous pressure on injured workers and their families during an already difficult time.
At Hofmann & Schweitzer, our maritime lawyers understand the unique challenges injured dredge workers face, and we help them pursue dredge compensation claims.
Understanding Your Status as a Maritime Worker
Before discussing compensation options, it's essential to determine your classification under maritime law, as this affects which remedies are available to you.
Dredge workers who spend a significant amount of time working on vessels in navigable waters are seamen and may recover compensation pursuant to the Jones Act and other maritime laws.
Harbor workers, including those who work on beaches, do not work on vessels in navigation, and may be covered under the Longshore and Harbor Workers' Compensation Act (LHWCA) or state workers' compensation instead. The LHWCA provides benefits that are different from those available to seamen under maritime law.
Maintenance and Cure
If you qualify as a seaman, you're entitled to maintenance and cure benefits regardless of who was at fault for your dredging accident.
Maintenance refers to daily living expenses while you recover from your injuries. These payments help cover costs like rent or mortgage, utilities, food, and other necessities.
Cure covers your medical expenses during your recovery. This includes doctor visits, hospital stays, medications, physical therapy, and necessary medical equipment. Unlike workers' compensation, which may limit your choice of doctors, maintenance and cure allows you to select your own health care providers.
Maintenance and cure benefits continue until you reach maximum medical improvement (MMI), meaning your condition has improved as much as medically possible. This could take weeks, months, or even years, depending on the severity of your injuries.
Jones Act Claims for Dredge Workers
If you qualify as a seaman and your injury resulted from negligence, you may have a claim under the Jones Act. This federal law protects maritime workers injured due to employer negligence.
Under the Jones Act, your employer has a duty to provide a reasonably safe place to work. This includes proper training, adequate equipment, sufficient crew members, and enforcement of safety procedures. If your employer fails in any of these duties and you're injured, you may have a viable Jones Act claim.
The negligence standard under the Jones Act is more favorable to injured workers than standard negligence laws. You only need to prove that your employer's negligence played some role in causing your injury, even if it was just a small factor.
Compensation under the Jones Act can include past and future medical expenses not covered by cure, past and future lost wages, diminished earning capacity, pain and suffering, mental anguish, and loss of enjoyment of life. These damages often exceed what you'd receive from maintenance and cure alone.
The statute of limitations for Jones Act claims is three years from the date of injury, so it's essential to consult with an NYC maritime lawyer promptly to protect your rights.
Unseaworthiness Claims Against Vessel Owners
Another important remedy for injured dredge workers who qualify as seamen is an unseaworthiness claim against the vessel owner. These dredge compensation claims are separate from Jones Act claims and can be pursued simultaneously.
Under general maritime law, vessel owners have an absolute duty to provide a seaworthy vessel. This means the vessel, its equipment, and crew must be reasonably fit for their intended purpose. If any aspect of the vessel is unsafe or inadequate, the vessel may be deemed unseaworthy.
Examples of unseaworthiness include defective equipment, insufficient crew, improperly trained crew members, slippery surfaces, or inadequate safety measures. Unlike Jones Act claims, unseaworthiness claims don't require proving negligence. You need only show that some unseaworthy condition existed and that it played a part in causing your injury.
Compensation for unseaworthiness claims can include the same damages available under the Jones Act: medical expenses, lost wages, pain and suffering, and more. In some cases, these claims result in higher recoveries than Jones Act claims because they don't require proof of negligence.
It's important to note that the vessel owner and your employer may be different entities. This means you might have claims against multiple parties, potentially increasing your total compensation.
LHWCA Benefits for Harbor Workers on Dredges
You may be covered under the Longshore and Harbor Workers' Compensation Act (LHWCA) if you don't qualify as a seaman.
LHWCA benefits include medical care for your work-related injury, temporary disability benefits while you're unable to work, and permanent disability benefits if your injury results in lasting limitations. The LHWCA typically pays two-thirds of your average weekly wage for temporary disability.
Unlike Jones Act and unseaworthiness claims, LHWCA claims don't require proof of negligence or fault. However, the trade-off is that LHWCA benefits are generally more limited than what you might recover in a successful Jones Act or unseaworthiness claim.
Even if the LHWCA covers you, you may still have third-party claims against entities other than your employer if their negligence contributed to your injury. The LHWCA doesn't limit these claims and can provide additional compensation.
Working with an experienced NYC maritime lawyer is crucial to identifying all potential sources of compensation, especially when multiple laws and responsible parties are involved.
Hofmann & Schweitzer Has Experience Helping Injured Dredge Workers
While past results do not guarantee a specific outcome in your case, it is important to note that our maritime lawyers have successfully represented dredge workers. Some of our case results include:
- $2.95 million claim against Great Lakes Dredge & Dock for our client who suffered a lower leg amputation
- $600,000 claim for a dredge worker who was hurt on the job
- More than $500,000 for a dredgeman who suffered a serious shoulder injury while working in the inlet in Cape Canaveral, Florida
Don't risk losing the compensation you deserve by attempting to handle your claim alone.
