It
is similar in some ways to
workers' compensation. The doctrine of unseaworthiness makes a shipowner
liable if a seaman is injured because the ship, or any appliance of the ship, is
unseaworthy, meaning defective in some way. The Jones Act allows a sailor or
one in privaty to him, to sue the ship owner for the tort of personal injury or
wrongful death, with trial by jury. The Jones Act incorporates the
Federal Employers Liability Act (FELA), which governs injuries to railway
workers, and is similar to the coal miners act. A shipowner is liable to a
seaman in the same way as a railroad operator is liable to its employees who are
injured due to the negligence of the employer. The
statute of limitation is 3 yearsSeamen are compensated for injuries sustained aboard ship by three separate
concepts: the principle of maintenance and cure, the doctrine of unseaworthiness,
and the
Jones Act. The principle of maintenance and cure requires a shipowner to pay
for an injured seaman's medical treatment until maximum recovery is obtained,
and provide basic living expenses until completion of the voyage, even if the
seaman is no longer aboard ship. The seaman is entitled to maintenance and cure
as of right, unless he was injured due to his own willful gross negligence. It
is similar in some ways to
workers' compensation. The doctrine of unseaworthiness makes a shipowner
liable if a seaman is injured because the ship, or any appliance of the ship, is
unseaworthy, meaning defective in some way. The Jones Act allows a sailor or
one in privaty to him, to sue the ship owner for the tort of personal injury or
wrongful death, with trial by jury. The Jones Act incorporates the
Federal Employers Liability Act (FELA), which governs injuries to railway
workers, and is similar to the coal miners act. A shipowner is liable to a
seaman in the same way as a railroad operator is liable to its employees who are
injured due to the negligence of the employer. The
statute of limitation is 3 years.
Not every worker injured onboard a vessel is a seaman entitled to Jones
Act, unseaworthiness, and maintenance and cure. To be a seaman a worker must
work 30% or more of his time onboard a specific vessel or a fleet of vessels
under common ownership or control. With few exceptions, all non-seamen workers
injured over navigable waters are covered instead by the Longshore and Harbor
Workers' Compensation Act, 33 U.S.C. ? 901 et seq., a powerful form of
workers' compensation.
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