Nicklos Drilling Co. v. Cowart

Today we sit en banc to resolve a conflict in the law of our Circuit. In the cases consolidated on this appeal, two panels of our Court held that section 33 of the Long-shore and Harbor Workers’ Compensation Act (LHWCA), 33 U.S.C. § 933 (1988), conditions eligibility for continuing LHWCA benefits on the employer’s and the employer’s insurance carrier’s prior written approval of any settlement between an injured employee and a third person for less than his LHWCA compensation entitlement; 1 and we further held that this approval requirement applies regardless of whether the employer or the…