Estate of Floyd Cowart v. Nicklos Drilling Company, et al. (505 U.S. 469)
U.S. Supreme Court · decided June 22, 1992 · Supreme Court Database (Spaeth)
- Citation
- 505 U.S. 469 · 112 S. Ct. 2589
- Decided
- June 22, 1992
- Term
- October Term 1991
- Vote
- 6–3
- Majority author
- Justice Kennedy
- Issue area
- Economic Activity
- Disposition
- Affirmed
- Outcome
- Petitioning party lost
- Ideological direction
- Conservative
Opinion excerpt
Justice Kennedy delivered the opinion of the Court. The Longshore and Harbor Workers’ Compensation Act (LHWCA or Act), 44 Stat. 1424, as amended, 33 U. S. C. § 901 et seq., creates a comprehensive federal scheme to compensate workers injured or killed while employed upon the navigable waters of the United States. The Act allows injured workers, without forgoing compensation under the Act, to pursue claims against third parties for their injuries. But § 33(g) of the LHWCA, 33 U.S.C. § 933(g), provides that under certain circumstances if a third-party claim is settled without the written approval of the worker’s employer, all future benefits including medical benefits are forfeited. The question we must decide today is whether the forfeiture provision applies to a worker whose employer, at the time the worker settles with a third party, is neither paying compensation to the worker nor yet subject to an order to pay under the Act. I The injured worker in this case was Ployd Cowart, and his estate is now the petitioner. Cowart suffered an injury to his hand on July 20,1983, while working on an oil drilling platform owned by Transco Exploration Company (Transco). The platform was located on the Outer. Continental Shelf, an area subject to the Act. 43 U. S. C. § 1333(b). Cowart was an employee of the Nicklos Drilling Company (Nicklos), who along with its insurer Compass Insurance…
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