Lawson v. Standard Dredging Co.
| Decision Date | 09 April 1943 |
| Docket Number | No. 10507.,10507. |
| Parties | LAWSON, Deputy Compensation Com'r, v. STANDARD DREDGING CO. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Fifth Circuit |
Herbert S. Phillips, U. S. Atty., of Tampa, Fla., and Edith House, Asst. U. S. Atty., of Jacksonville, Fla., for appellant.
Wm. B. Bond, of Jacksonville, Fla., for appellee.
Before HUTCHESON, HOLMES, and McCORD, Circuit Judges.
Frank Johnson, H. N. Parker, and Lawrence Freeman were injured while working for their employer, Standard Dredging Corporation, upon the navigable waters of the United States. This appeal is from a final judgment which made permanent a temporary injunction restraining enforcement of portions of compensation orders of the Deputy Commissioner awarding benefits to the three employees under the provisions of the Longshoremen's and Harbor Workers' Compensation Act, 44 Stat. 1424, 33 U.S.C.A. § 901 et seq.
Each employee had entered into a written contract of employment with the Standard Dredging Company. These contracts recited that there was "grave doubt" as to what law would be applicable in the event that an employee was injured while working in the course of his employment. Each employee agreed that their employment would be within the coverage of the Workmen's Compensation Law of the State where they were employed; and that all other claims, including any arising under the laws of the United States, were waived.
After the employees had been injured, payments of compensation were made to them, without claim or suit, pursuant to the terms of the contracts of employment and according to the Workmen's Compensation schedules of Florida, the State of their employment. Freeman was paid $510.00; Parker, $172.00; and Johnson, $528.00. Thereafter, claims under the Longshoremen's and Harbor Workers' Compensation Act were filed with the Deputy Commissioner who, after a hearing, made findings and entered awards of compensation in amounts substantially larger than the employees had already received by virtue of their contracts and the lower Florida Compensation Act schedules. Although requested to do so, the Deputy Commissioner refused to credit the compensation payments already received by the employees against the awards he made under the Federal Act. The District Court held that under 33 U.S.C.A. § 914(k) the employer was entitled to credit for the amounts which had already been paid to the employees, and to the extent of such payments enjoined enforcement of the...
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Travelers Insurance Company v. Belair, 7243.
...N. D.Ill., 1930, 47 F.2d 265; see also McCabe Inspection Serv., Inc. v. Willard, 2 Cir., 1957, 240 F.2d 942; Lawson v. Standard Dredging Co., 5 Cir., 1943, 134 F.2d 771. Notice was The substantive question in the case is whether Melanson is barred from recovery by 33 U.S.C. § 902(3), which ......
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Lundborg v. Keystone Shipping Co.
...employee to waive his right to compensation under this chapter shall be valid." 33 U.S.C.A. § 915(b) (1998). See Lawson v. Standard Dredging Co., 134 F.2d 771 (5th Cir.1943) (holding employment contract that waived benefits under the LHWCA in favor of state worker's compensation benefits in......
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Artis v. Norfolk & Western Railway
...a double recovery for the same injury, disability or death. See 33 U.S.C. 903(e), 914(j), 933(f); see also Lawson v. Standard Dredging Co., 134 F.2d 771 (5th Cir. 1943). Although the settlement recovery under the FELA in this case does not fall within the explicit terms of any of these sect......
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Travelers Insurance Company v. Belair
...and to have been wholly gratuitous. E. g., McCabe Inspection Service, Inc. v. Willard, 2 Cir., 1957, 240 F.2d 942; Lawson v. Standard Dredging Co., 5 Cir., 1943, 134 F.2d 771. The court therefore concludes that the "voluntary" payments made by Travelers, for which it could later claim credi......