When Jones Act justice turns to greed

The Jones Act is designed to grant fair compensation to mariners injured in the workplace. It is not intended to manipulate the system, ala “ambulance chasing on the water.”

Unfortunately, there are occasional claims filed where seafarers might see extra dollar signs and look to abuse the system.

Take the case of Orlando Ramirez vs. American Pollution Control Corporation, AMPOL. New on the job, Ramirez was working as a deckhand aboard the vessel Recovery. While in the galley, he picked up a wet rubber glove off the deck and threw it in the trash. It missed and ended up back on the deck.

Ramirez then walked through the galley with his arms full of groceries. He slipped on the glove and fell, claiming back and neck injuries.

Ramirez blamed the captain for not warning him of the glove, the same one he carelessly tossed toward the trash. He sued AMPOL for $3,000 in lost wages. The court awarded him 60 percent compensatory damages.
 
But that wasn’t good enough. Still blaming the captain, Ramirez appealed. However, he lost his appeal in part because it was discovered that he had failed to disclose his injury history on his job application; it was revealed that he had in fact suffered neck and back injuries on five separate occasions between 1979 and 2004.