The Tail Wags the Salty Dog: The Subordination of the LHWCA's Enumerated Structures in Circuit Precedent

Comment by Hayden Q. Hawkins

Nearly half a century ago, Congress amended the Longshoreman and Harbor Workers’ Compensation Act to expand protections for wounded workers. In doing so, Congress added a parenthetical clause that itemized specific places where, if an injury occurred, disability coverage could extend to maritime workers. These locations, namely dry docks, wharves, piers, and terminals, are known as the enumerated structures. Two U.S. Circuit Courts, the Fifth Circuit and the Ninth Circuit, have developed diverging views on the scope of the enumerated structures clause. This Comment explores these two coastal circuits’ precedent and argues, through the canons of textualism and legislative intent, that the Ninth Circuit’s interpretation is the appropriate one: a maritime worker injured on a dry dock, pier, wharf, or terminal––regardless of function––is covered by the LHWCA.


About the Author

Hayden Q. Hawkins. J.D. candidate 2021, Tulane University Law School; B.A. 2018, Louisiana State University.

Citation

95 Tul. L. Rev. 421 (2021)