Director, Office of Workers' Compensation Programs v. Newport News Shipbuilding & Dry Dock Co.

The Court holds that the Director of the Office of Workers’ Compensation Programs of the United States Department of Labor (OWCP) lacks standing under § 21(c) of the Longshore and Harbor Workers’ Compensation Act (LHWCA or Act), 44 Stat. 1424, as amended, 33 U. S. C. § 901 et seq., to seek judicial review of LHWCA claim determinations. Before amendment of the LHWCA in 1972, the Act’s administrator had authority to seek review of LHWCA claim determinations in the courts of appeals. The Court reads the 1972 amendments as divesting the Act’s administrator of access to federal appellate tribunals…