Longshoremen and other harbor workers have a tough job. Every day, they face a barrage of risks just through the natural course of doing their jobs. Even the safest, most conscientious harbor worker could be injured, through no fault of their own. Over the years, we’ve helped so many harbor workers to receive worker’s compensation for their injuries. However, an injured longshoreman may be able to file a separate claim, different from workers’ compensation for their injuries. Our Long Beach longshoreman accident attorneys can help you through that process as well.
Laws that Help Longshoremen
We’ve found over the years that many harbor workers may know about workers’ compensation, but they’re unaware of the other laws that could benefit them specifically. Workers’ compensation, for example, tends to cover the injuries that a worker suffers in the course of doing their job. However, as longshoremen work is especially difficult, there are additional laws that can help them to receive the compensation that they deserve.
For example, the Longshore and Harbor Workers’ Compensation Act (LHWCA) can help harbor and maritime workers of many different kinds who have been injured in the course of repairing, unloading, or loading vessels. In these kinds of cases, we help harbor workers to get compensation for when they’re injured through the negligence, recklessness, or malice of someone who isn’t a co-worker or their employer. See, the LHWCA makes it so that you can’t sue the person who employees you. But, you are able to sue a third party for damages.
An example of this might be: you go to work loading up a ship. You’re just doing your job, just as well as ever, the same as you would any day. Then, while you’re loading this ship, someone else hits you with a truck. Another example of this might be if you’re working on unloading something from a boat and it causes you to catch a disease or even get infected. These laws exist so as to help workers like you to justice against a third party. We can help you to bring a claim against any of the involved parties so that you can get everything that you deserve for your injuries.
Helping All Kinds of Harbor Workers to Receive Damages
You might have read the top of this page and thought: “if this is just for longshoremen, then it might not be for me.” But, these laws cover so many more than just longshoremen. For example, these laws also cover shipbuilders, workers who repair vessels, crane operators, stevedores, terminal workers, and so many others who have occupations on the waterfront or in the shipyard.
In many of these cases, we end up bringing a claim against those who manufactured the equipment that you use in the course of a day. Cables, forklifts, pulleys, cranes, and manufacturers of other forms of heavy equipment often make mistakes, which can lead to injuries and worse. If you’ve been hurt while doing your job due to something like this, it actually goes beyond a workers compensation case.
Long Beach Longshoreman Accident Attorney
Yes, being a harbor worker can be a difficult, risky job. But, if you’re hurt while working, you should receive all of the compensation that you deserve. After all, you’re a hard worker. You owe it to yourself as well as the people who depend on you in your life to make sure that you get everything that you can. These injuries can lead to medical bills, rehab, and so much more. You shouldn’t have to hope that insurance can cover it, or worse still, pay for it out of your own pocket. That’s where we come in.
When you contact us, we can sit down with you to determine if you have a case or not. The worst thing that can happen is that we tell you we don’t particularly see a case here. However, the potential upside, getting everything that you deserve for your injuries, is so much greater. We have experienced investigators at our firm who can find out exactly what happened with your incident. That’s just one of the many resources at our disposal which can make your case all that much more compelling.
At our firm, we’ve been helping longshoremen and harbor workers to receive their due compensation for these kinds of cases. If you’re injured at your job through the fault of some third party, or you even believe that there’s a chance that’s the case, we’re always glad to talk. Many times, we’ve had clients come in who believed they qualified for one of these cases but actually qualified for workers’ compensation, and vice versa. You can schedule a free consultation with our longshoreman accident attorneys through our contact form or by giving us a call.