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Jones Act Seaman

9/8/2009
William Turley
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Is your Maintenance Rate Too Low? Maintance and Cure, Injured Seaman and Punitive Damages



IS  YOUR MAINTENANCE RATE TOO LOW?   THE U.S. SUPREME COURT SOUNDS THE BELL FOR SEAMAN IN HOLDING THAT PUNITIVE DAMAGES ARE AVAILABLE WHEN MAINTENANCE AND CURE IS WRONGFULLY NOT PAID TO INJURED JONES ACT SEAMAN

Bill Turley, a California Jones Act Attorney explains....

The US Supreme Court's decision in Atlantic Sounding Co. v. Townsend, 129 S. Ct. 2561 (U.S. 2009), is an affirmation of Jones Act Seaman's powerful rights and remedies.

In Atlantic Sounding, a crew member  injured his arm and shoulder while working on the owner's tugboat. The owner told the crew member that it would not provide maintenance and cure. Resolving a split among the circuits, the Supreme Court held that punitive damages were available for willful and wanton disregard of the maintenance and cure obligation as a matter of general maritime law. Punitive damages had long been available at common law, a tradition that extended to maritime claims, including maintenance and cure claims. 46 U.S.C.S. § 30104 of the Jones Act did not eliminate preexisting remedies available to seamen for the common-law cause of action based on the right to maintenance and cure.

The Atlantic Sounding holding rests on the tradition of awarding punitive damages at common law for particularly reprehensible conduct, and the fact that the tradition extends to claims under the general maritime law. Maritime employers' obligation of maintenance and cure has been part of maritime law for centuries.

This decision is a victory for all Jones Act Seaman. The threat of punitive damages for wrongfully withheld maintenance and cure is extremely important. As you know, insurance adjusters and vessel owners routinely state that they will only pay $8.00 a day or some other ridiculously low maintenance rate.

Now, with Atlantic Sounding, injured Jones Act seaman and their Jones Act lawyers have a powerful remedy that will help enforce the rights of Seaman.  Be sure to enforce your rights under the Jones Act and General Maritime Law.

 

Brought to you by: California Jones Act Lawyer.


































We have a State Wide Maritime Practice. Meaning we are asked to represent people injured in boating accidents and ship accidents across California and the World.

The Turley Law Firm Lawyers accept cases in the following locations in California: Los Angeles, San Diego, San Jose, San Francisco, Fresno, Long Beach, Sacramento, Oakland, Santa Ana, Anaheim, Bakersfield, Riverside, Stockton, Chula Vista, Fremont, Irvine, Modesto, Glendale, San Bernardino, Huntington Beach, Oxnard, Fontana, Moreno Valley, Oceanside, Rancho Cucamonga, Santa Clarita, Garden Grove, Ontario, Pomona, Santa Rosa, Salinas, Palmdale, Hayward, Pasadena, Torrance, Corona, Lancaster, Catalina Island, Bodega Bay, Bethel Island, Half Moon Bay, Eureka, Avalon,  Escondido, Alameda, Orange, Elk Grove, Sunnyvale, Fullerton, Thousand Oaks, El Monte, Simi Valley, Concord, Visalia, Vallejo, Ventura, Ventura Harbor, Marina del Ray, Morro Bay, Inglewood, Santa Clara, Pacific Ocean,  Port of Los Angeles, Port of Long Beach , Port of San Pedro, Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara Channel, San Clemente Island,  San Joaquin River, San Francisco Harbor, San Francisco Bay, Stockton, Port of Stockton, Port of Sacramento, Port San Luis, California Delta, Lake Tahoe, Colorado River, Port of San Diego, Sausalito, Santa Cruz, San Pedro,  San Diego Harbor, Stockton, Oceanside Harbor, Catalina Island, Dana Point, Newport Harbor, Ventura Harbor, Port Hueneme, Vallejo, Crescent City, Yuba City, Wilmington, and the Channel Islands, and the navigable waterways of the the United States and the navigable waters of California.

The Turley Law Firm handles all type of boat and ship accidents and we are boat accident lawyers, including Jones Act lawyers , unseaworthiness lawyers, boat negligence lawyers, maintenance and cure lawyers,  cruise ship lawyers, recreational boating lawyers, boat accident lawyers, ship accident lawyer, boat collision lawyer, ship collision lawyer, barge accident lawyer, barge lawyer, derrick attonrey, floating work platform lawyer,  PWC accident lawyer, personal watercraft accident lawyer, sailboat accident lawyer, water ski accident lawyer , sailing accident lawyer,  tanker lawyer, offshore lawyer,  and river accident lawyers. Jones Act Lawyer , Jones Act Attorney , Boating Accident Lawyer , Boating Accident Attorney , Maritime Lawyer , Maritime AttorneyLongshore Act Lawyer , Longshore Act Attorney .

 

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