Firefighter’s appeal victory shows shipowners can face seaworthiness claims from non-seafarers

Types : In the News

A firefighter from New York state has won a court appeal that opens the door for seaworthiness complaints from non-mariners who board vessels.

The US Second Circuit Court of Appeals overturned a decision by a New York federal judge, who threw out a lawsuit by Troy Dyckman for injuries sustained on a firefighting vessel.

A panel of three appellate judges rejected arguments that the volunteer firefighter was barred from filing claims for unseaworthiness because he was a land-based worker, he was not an independent contractor and his work on the vessel did not aide navigation.

Maritime litigator Jon Werner, a partner at law firm Montgomery McCracken, noted that the court found that US law affords the guarantee of seaworthiness to those who are “doing a seaman’s work and incurring a seaman’s hazards” on a vessel.

“This decision serves as a reminder that state workers’ compensation exclusivity may not provide a bulletproof shield against maritime claims when the work performed is inherently maritime in nature,” Werner wrote in a note to clients.