Employer trick exposed: categorizing a Jones Act seaman as a "Longshore" claim. Why would an employer try to do this? If you are injured offshore, you need to know.

Offshore employers have tried to play this trick on our clients several times in the past. Here's how it goes down:

A Jones Act seaman is injured on the job. When this happens, the employer is legally responsible for paying the injured seaman maintenance and cure benefits, and is also liable for any damages caused by its negligence. The Jones Act is the maritime law that sets out these rules, and the employee may directly sue the employer if benefits and damages are not properly paid.

Offshore employers know that they usually have significant liability when they are sued under the Jones Act. Sometimes, in an effort to escape this liability that the law puts on them, employers try to classify an injured Jones Act seaman as having a "Longshore" claim. This is much different than a Jones Act claim. First, in a Longshore claim, the employee cannot directly sue the employer. Second, and most importantly, benefits availabled in a Longshore claim are typically much, much lower than the expected benefits in a Jones Act lawsuit.

That's why some employers try to do this: to minimize what they will have to pay an injured offshore worker. If an injured seaman does not have a qualified maritime lawyer representing him or her, this trick could very well cause permanent damage to the seaman's future.

This is not proper, and we have held employers accountable for this dirty tactic when they have tried it on our clients.