Green v. Industrial Commission

This case raises a question of jurisdiction involving the tension between competing policies of federal and state law. The question is whether claimant Haskel Green, an injured seaman, may pursue workers’ compensation benefits under the Workers’ Compensation Act (Act) (820 ILCS 305/1 et seq. (West 1998)) or whether he is limited to benefits under federal law, specifically, the Merchant Marine Act (Jones Act) (46 U.S.C. app. § 688 (1994)). The arbitrator found that the Jones Act was claimant’s exclusive means of recovery, precluding application of the Workers’ Compensation Act. Adopting the…