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US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit affirmed the district court decision holding that a welder assigned to a jack-up rig was not a seaman within the meaning of the Jones Act.
Harbor Tug and Barge Co. v. Papai, 520 U.S. 548 (1997);
Chandris, Inc. v. Latsis, 515 U.S. 347 (1995);
McDermott International, Inc. v. Wilander, 498 U.S. 337 (1991).] This is especially evident given the recent
en banc decision in
Sanchez v. Smart Fabricators of Texas, L.L.C., No. 19-20506,2021 WL 1882565 (5th Cir. May 11, 2021) (
en banc) (Davis).
In
Sanchez, the Fifth Circuit overturned a three-judge panel decision and reinstated a district court s holding that a land-based welder allegedly injured while working on a jacked-up drilling rig failed to meet the definition of a seaman to sue under the Jones Act. The
en banc panel expanded the considerations that should be applied to distinguish whether a maritime worker is a seaman entitled to benefits under the Jones Act from other maritime workers generally covered under the Longshore and Harbor Workers Compensation Act (a federal compensation remedy for injuries to certain land-based workers occurring on navigable