Ora Lee Bell v. Stephen O'hearne, Deputy Commissioner, Department of Labor, Bureau of Employees Compensation, Fifth Compensation District

SOBELOFF, Chief Judge.

Decision is required in this case as to the legal effect of the acceptance of less than the face amount, as full payment, of a judgment for damages recovered by beneficiaries of a longshoreman whose death was caused by a third party tort-feasor. The position of the deputy commissioner passing on the claim of the beneficiaries under the Longshoremen’s and Harbor Workers’ Compensation Act was that they thereby disentitled themselves to the benefits of the Act. The surviving beneficiary maintains that she is entitled to the law’s benefits for the excess over the face amount…