Maritime Personal Injury and the Jones Act Flashcards
6 cards from real Maritime Law practice questions. Tap to flip, then mark Knew It or Still Learning — missed cards come back until you master them.
Read the first 6 Maritime Personal Injury and the Jones Act flashcards as text
Under the Death on the High Seas Act (DOHSA, 46 U.S.C. § 30301), a wrongful death action may be brought when a death occurs:
Answer: Beyond 3 nautical miles from the shore of the United States
DOHSA applies to deaths occurring on the high seas beyond 3 nautical miles from U.S. shores, and limits recovery to pecuniary (economic) losses of the decedent's survivors.
The Supreme Court's decision in Miles v. Apex Marine Corp. (1990) limited recovery in seaman wrongful death cases by holding:
Answer: Nonpecuniary damages such as loss of society are not recoverable under the Jones Act or general maritime law
Miles established the uniformity principle, holding that nonpecuniary losses like loss of society are not recoverable in wrongful death suits by seamen under the Jones Act or general maritime law.
Under the LHWCA, a longshoreman injured by a vessel's negligence may pursue a third-party negligence claim against the vessel owner under which section?
Answer: 33 U.S.C. § 905(b)
LHWCA § 905(b) permits a longshoreman who has received LHWCA benefits to sue a vessel owner (as a third party) for negligence under the standards set in Scindia Steam Navigation Co. v. De Los Santos.
The 'Scindia duties' imposed on vessel owners toward longshoremen under LHWCA § 905(b) include the duty to:
Answer: Turn over the vessel in a reasonably safe condition and intervene when a known hazard is observed
Scindia Steam Navigation Co. v. De Los Santos established three duties: safe turnover of the vessel, warning of hidden dangers, and a duty to intervene when the vessel operator observes an unreasonably dangerous condition.
The 'fellow servant rule' in Jones Act cases differs from common law in that under the Jones Act:
Answer: The employer is liable even if the negligence was that of a fellow crew member
The Jones Act abolished the fellow servant defense — the employer is liable for the negligent acts of any fellow crew member that injure the seaman, following the FELA model.
A seaman who is willfully injured or whose injury results solely from their own intoxication may have which remedy affected?
Answer: Maintenance and cure may be forfeited for willful misbehavior or intoxication causing the injury
While maintenance and cure is a near-absolute right, a seaman can forfeit it by willful misbehavior or by being injured solely through their own intoxication.