Name
Seaman Status – Where Will Sanchez Take Us?
Date & Time
Friday, April 9, 2021, 2:50 PM - 3:50 PM
Thomas Galligan
Description

In Sanchez v. Smart Fabricators of Texas L.L.C., 970 F. 3d 550 (5th Cir. 2020), the United States Court of Appeal for the Fifth Circuit revisited one of maritime personal injuries abiding issues: seaman status. Sanchez was a welder who suffered injury when he tripped on a pipe welded to a jack-up drilling rig. He sued his employer in state court claiming Jones Act negligence. While Sanchez did the work of the vessel and he did so for well over 30% of his work time, he never went to sea. He was never on the vessel/rig when it moved. For the entire time that Sanchez worked on the rig, it was jacked up “above water, a step away from and adjacent to the shoreside pier. Sanchez only worked day shifts, returning home every evening. This talk will discuss this case in detail and its potential ramifications for seaman status going forward.

Session Type
Symposium