Lee v. Astoria Generating Co.

In Stewart v Dutra Constr. Co. (543 US 481 [2005]), the United States Supreme Court held that the term “vessel” in the Longshore and Harbor Workers’ Compensation Act (LHWCA or the Act) (33 USC §§ 901-950) is broadly defined to “include[ ] every description of watercraft . . . used, or capable of being used, as a means of transportation on water” (1 USC § 3). The majority, in determining that the barge on which plaintiff was injured is not a “vessel” under the LHWCA, looks for primary guidance, not to Stewart, but to a readily distinguishable Fifth Circuit case decided 10 years earlier. It…