Estate of Cowart v. Nicklos Drilling Co.

Justice Blackmun,

with whom Justice Stevens and Justice O'Connor join,

dissenting.

For more than 14 years, the Director of the Office of Workers' Compensation Programs interpreted the Longshore and Harbor Workers’ Compensation Act (LHWCA or Act), 44 Stat. 1424, as amended, 33 U. S. C. §901 et seq., in the very same way that petitioner Floyd Cowart’s estate now urges. Indeed, the Director advocated Cowart’s position in the Court of Appeals, both before the panel and before that court en banc.

After certiorari was granted, however, and after Cowart’s opening brief was filed, the federal respondent…