Jones Act Employer Negligence

A Jones Act employer has a non-delegable duty to provide a Jones Act seaman with a reasonably safe place to work. Mahnich v. Southern S.S. Co., 321 U.S. 96 (1944). The duty to provide a reasonably safe place to work extends to all aspects of employment, including safe ingress and egress aboard the vessel.

A Jones Act seaman is more or less permanently assigned to a vessel. It generally means that you spend about 30% of your time on what the law calls a vessel.

The standard of negligence to be used is whether an employer’s negligence played any part, even the slightest, in bring about the injury. CSX Transportation, Inc. v. McBride, 131 S. Ct. 2630; 180 L. Ed. 2d 637; 2011 U.S. LEXIS 4795 (2011). A violation of a safety statute by a Jones Act employer resulting in injury or death may also result in liability.

Damages under the Jones Act include (l) past loss of wages, (2) loss of future earning capacity, (3) medical expenses (past and future), (4) pain, suffering and loss of enjoyment. A plaintiff’s comparative negligence will reduce any award.

See Odom, LexisNexis Practice Guide: Wash. Torts and Personal Injury, Chapter 11. (Matthew Bender, Rev. Ed.).