Justices Tout 9th Circuit Theory in Benefits Claim
Justices Tout 9th Circuit Theory in Benefits Claim
(CN) - A widow can seek workers' compensation benefits under the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act, even though her husband was killed on an onshore oil-processing facility, the Supreme Court ruled Wednesday.
The unanimous opinion confirms a May decision by the 9th Circuit, which became the third federal appeals court to consider the question.
Before he was crushed to death by a forklift, Luisa Valladolid's late husband, Juan, worked for Pacific Operations Offshore as a roustabout. The court noted that Juan spent 98 percent of his working time doing maintenance work aboard one of Pacific's offshore oil-drilling platforms, the Hogan, located more than 3 miles off the California coast.
Once every two years, Juan had to collect scrap metal with a forklift at the onshore oil flocculation facility. After Juan was killed, his widow received death benefits under California's workers' compensation scheme. She then filed a claim for benefits under the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act and another law for longshore and harbor workers.
http://www.courthousenews.com/2012/01/11/42954.htm