Employer erred when it did not accommodate injured worker: Court

A federal judge with the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco ruled Wednesday that an injured maritime worker can’t sue a general contractor for negligence because she had collected workers compensation from her primary employer.

Sira Cruz was injured in 2013 while working as a tank tester aboard a U.S. Navy ship that was docked for repairs. She collected workers compensation under the Longshore and Harbor Workers’ Compensation Act from her primary employer, the staffing agency Tradesmen International Inc., and subsequently filed a negligence lawsuit against the San Diego-based general contractor National Steel and Shipbuilding Co., functioning as her “borrowing employer,” according to documents in Sira Cruz v. National Steel and Shipbuilding Co.; Peterson Industrial Scaffolding Inc. and the United States of America, filed in Pasadena, California.

The shipbuilding company filed a motion for summary judgment, claiming that the Longshore Act barred Ms. Cruz from bringing tort claims against the defendant. It was granted on the grounds that the company, which had functioned as Ms. Cruz’s borrowing employer for several years at the time of the accident, was immune from being sued pursuant to the “one recovery” policy in workers compensation law, according to documents.

The circuit judges on Wednesday affirmed that ruling, holding that the Longshore Act “provides maritime employees one guaranteed recovery for covered injuries. Cruz received her recovery, and the district court was correct to preclude her from pursuing a second,” the ruling states.