Maritime Injury Lawyer Blog

Defense Base Workers - Civilian Contractor families are suffering in a manner very similar to families of our uniformed soldiers. A former Marine turned civilian contractor returned from Iraq in 2006 and killed himself. Not only has the family lost a husband and father, but they have had to fight with KBR and AIG insurance company to obtain Defense Base Act workers' compensation death benefits. Very little attention has been given to the mental health of thousands of contractors returning from Iraq and Afghanistan. The families of civilian contractors who have committed suicide have been slogging through the Defense Base Act trying to get death benefits. Injured workers frequently have to battle insurance carriers for the most basic medical coverage. The military allows families to receive benefits when a soldier's suicide is linked to depression caused by battlefield trauma. Contractor's families do not enjoy similar support and are frequently required to fight it out in court to obtain the benefits they deserve. If you or a loved one worked as a Defense Base Act civilian contractor and have suffered a physical or psychological injury, please feel free to contact Steven Schletker, (800) 254-7487 for a free consultation.

In 2006 Mr. Tate Mallory was working as an overseas civilian contractor in Iraq when he was seriously injured by a rocket propelled grenade. On February 17, 2010 he received the Defense of Freedom Medal in recognition of his service to the United States.

Civilian contractors provide invaluable support for our troops fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan. They perform services such as repairing personnel transport vehicles and delivering water to thirsty Marines in Forward Operating Bases. Their work frees up our men and women in the military to perform combat operations.

Injured civilian contractors such as Mr. Mallory are typically not treated within the VA system but rather are covered by the Defense Base Act. The Defense Base Act is administered by the United States Department of Labor, Office of Workers' Compensation Programs. AIG affiliated insurance companies underwrite much of the medical care given to civilian contractors injured overseas. In addition to having to deal with the trauma of war zone injuries, wounded civilian contractors are often caught up in a maze of red tape generated by insurance company case managers, insurance company "independent" medical examiners and insurance company adjustors.

As a tribute to Mr. Mallory and all injured civilian contractors, Congress should provide adequate oversight to the Defense Base Act to insure proper compensation and medical benefits are provided.

If you are a civilian contractor and have suffered an injury overseas or on a domestic military base, please feel free to contact Steven Schletker at (800) 254-7487 for a free consultation of your rights under federal law.

Congratulation to Mr. Mallory and thank you for your service to our country.

Workers injured within the scope of their employment on military bases or national defense projects outside the United States may covered by the Defense Base Act.

The Defense Base Act ("DBA") was enacted in 1941 to establish a scheme of
workers' compensation for injuries sustained by employees in their employment by
private employers on military bases or national defense projects outside the
continental United States. See 42 U.S.C. § 1651. To accomplish this purpose,
Congress extended the already existing provisions of the Longshore and Harbor
Workers' Compensation Act ("LHWCA"), enacted in 1927, to provide workers'
compensation coverage for those engaged in maritime employment.

Defense Base Act cases are developed before the District Director and Claims Examiners, similar to cases under the Longshore Act. If the claim cannot be resolved by the District Director, jurisdiction is transferred to the Office of Administrative Law Judges. There is a split in authority of where appeals from the Benefits Review Board are heard.

On February 18, 2010 the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit ruled in conformity with Circuits that route appeals from the Benefits Review Board to the United States Court of Appeals. SERVICE EMPLOYEES INTERNATIONAL, INC., INSURANCE COMPANY OF THE STATE OF PENNSYLVANIA, Petitioners, - v. - DIRECTOR, OFFICE OF WORKERS COMPENSATION PROGRAM, Respondent, JESSE BARRIOS, Claimant-Respondent. 2010 U.S. App. LEXIS 3182

The 2d, 7th, & 9th Circuit Courts of Appeal have ruled that a Benefits Review Board appeal goes directly to the Court of Appeals. The 4th, 5th, 6th, & 11th Circuits have ruled that a BRB appeal goes to the United States District Court, with one dissent on each side (2d & 4th). This split of authority between the Circuits may well lend itself to a Writ Of Certiorari being granted by the United States Supreme Court.

If you have or are handling a Defense Base Act case it is important to check to see if your jurisdiction routes appeals from the Benefits Review Board to the United States Court of Appeals or United States DIstrict Court. If you have a question in this regard, please feel free to call Steven Schletker, (800) 254-7487 for a free consultation.

The Department of Labor Benefits Review Board affirmed its decision that held an injured worker's average weekly wage had to be calculated based solely on his/her overseas earnings.

Companies such as Halliburton, KBR, Service Employer's International and others entice workers to dangerous overseas locations in return for higher pay. When a worker is injured, their worker's compensation disability rate is based upon pre-injury wages.

Employers have attempted to reduce worker's compensation payments by including wages earned while the worker was in the United States (which are typically much lower) rather than basing the compensation rate just upon wages earned while the worker was in Iraq, Kuwait or other dangerous overseas location.

It is unfair to send a worker into harm's way with a promise of higher pay and then reduce the amount of compensation paid to him/her using a wage calculation that includes lower stateside wages. I represented a Kentuckian who was injured while driving a truck in Iraq. The man is a true hero. He volunteered to deliver drinking water to a forward operating base filled with thirsty Marines in Central Iraq. He was seriously injured by a roadside IED. We successfully prosecuted the claim using a compensation rate based just upon his Iraq wages. Until the Benefits Review Board issued their recent ruling, some trial Judges used a blend of overseas wages and stateside wages.

The Benefits Review Board held it is unfair to calculate earnings capacity without consideration of the full amount of earnings lost due to the injury. Trial Judges are instructed to use just the higher overseas rates when calculating worker's compensation rates. This is a true victory for working men and women.

K .S. v. Serv. Employees Int'l, Inc., __ BRBS __, BRB No. 08-0583 (2009)(en banc).