Dominguez v. Cove Ships, Inc.

OPINION OF THE COURT

Eve Preminger, J.

Plaintiff, a longshoreman, seeks to recover damages for personal injuries he suffered while working on defendant’s ship. Defendant alleges that a Federal statute designed for the protection of longshoremen should be used in this case to bar recovery.

The statute in question, the Longshoremen’s and Harbor Workers’ Compensation Act (US Code, tit 33, § 901 et seq.), was originally enacted in 1927. It gave an injured longshoreman the right to choose between the certain recovery of limited compensation from his employer without proof of fault, and the less…