Deckhand loses appeal for non-disclosure of previous injuries

We have always advised mariners to fully disclosure your medical history on your job applications. There are two reasons why it is critical that you provide complete disclosure when you sign aboard the vessel. First, it could save your life one day. What if you become unconscious and unable to inform the medical team of what prescriptions you were taking? At least if there is a record on the ship, this won't be an issue. Second, to avoid potential legal troubles if you ever get sick or injured on the job.

Well, Orlando Ramirez not only ignored the second point, he went so far as to abuse it by attempting to work the legal system. His efforts made it all the way up to just one step before the U.S. Supreme Court. The case was Orlando Ramirez v. American Pollution Control Corporation and it was recently decided by the Fifth Circuit.

On Sept. 26, 2006, Ramirez was hired by AMPOL as a deckhand. He claimed on his application that he never had any previous serious injuries, accidents, or filings for worker's comp.

All of these representations were false.

In fact, he had suffered a pair of back injuries, a neck injury, a combined back/neck injury, and had already filed three workers' comp claims.

15 days after he was hired, he slipped and fell on their vessel. Not surprisingly, he claimed serious pain in multiple locations on his body.

He filed a Jones Act case. The district court ruled he was forty percent at fault and awarded him $1,800 in damages for lost wages. That wasn't good enough, so he pushed his case through the system, arguing that his non-disclosure of existing conditions had no bearing on his injuries. AMPOL argued that they did because he very likely never would have been hired in the first place if the truth had come out.

The Fifth Circuit disagreed and upheld the district court ruling in favor of AMPOL.