The Jones Act Protects Those Injured on Boats, Ships, Barges, and More

Maritime Lawyers Know The Complexities Of The Jones Act

Whereas the Jones Act shares some features with more well known personal injury laws, it is in many ways a different legal beast. Many people are familiar with worker’s compensation and negligence laws in the United States even if they do not understand all of the fine details. For example, they know that individuals hurt on the job are very often owed high levels of recompense, including medical bills, prescription payments, rent, utilities, travel expenses compensation for pain and suffering, and more. However, what many people do not know is that the law changes if the accident or injury takes place in coastal waters and on open seas; this is where the Jones Act often comes into the picture.

Also known as the Merchant Marine Act of 1920, the Jones Act has been revised since its inception. Originally intended to protect U.S. sea merchants from competition in cabotage shipping, it also extended common railroad worker rights to seamen. Cabotage is defined as shipping goods or people from one U.S. port to another. In fact, in the United States, maritime law states that ships travelling between U.S. ports must be made in America and staffed by American crews.

But the law was also created to extend monetary and safety rights. International maritime laws do not give employees the right to collect monetary or other damages from the employer, owner, or operator of a vessel. Without this precedent on the books, American workers injured on boats, oil rigs, barges, and other vessels would be unable to get help after being injured.

Perhaps the most important thing to know about the current rules is that they sets a very strict, three year statute of limitations on all suits brought against the owner, operator, or employer of maritime equipment. Even though employees are protected, they need to remain vigilant of complications resulting from an accident at sea. The language of the bill currently stipulates that a suit can be thrown out or otherwise disqualified if an employee fails to discover and report injury in a reasonable period of time.

The act clearly states that seamen may “recover damages at law if he is personally injured during employment and he can elect to have a jury trial.” The two most important phrases here are “damages at law” and “elect to have a jury trial.” This is beneficial to the employee in two ways. Damages in a lawsuit of this kind are almost always monetary in nature. Therefore, an employee has the opportunity to collect money to pay off debts incurred because of the injury. But an employee may also win money that goes towards pain, suffering, and debts in the future. Also, the option to have a jury trial may improve the fairness of the proceedings.

If you have any questions at all about the rights you may or may not have under local or international laws, contact a maritime law firm  immediately. Creating a relationship with expert legal advisors from the very beginning is vital to securing your rights and protecting your quality of life.