Coming before the Louisiana Third Circuit Court of Appeals  was the question of whether the Claimant was covered by the Longshore and Harbor Workers’ Compensation Act or the Louisiana Workers’ Compensation Act.  After reviewing the situs and status requirements of the LHWCA, the Court found he did not fall under the longshoremen classification.

Claimant was an employee of UNO Enterprises, LLC. At the time of his injury, he was working under the direction and control of M. Matt Durrance, LLC, a heavy construction company which was hired by Breaux’s Bay Craft to construct a boat ramp on Bayou Tech in Loreauville, Louisiana- a navigable waterway. On the date of his injury, Claimant was cutting timber to be used for construction of the ramp. The uncontested facts of the case established that Claimant was in a grassy area between thirty and one hundred feet from the ramp while cutting the timber.

The Court engaged in a “situs” and “status” analysis to determine whether Claimant met the definition of longshoreman within the meaning of the LHWCA.  The Court was not persuaded by the comparison of the boat ramp to a pier, which is an enumerated situs under the Act, as there was no evidence to establish that the ramp was “a structure built on pilings extending from land to navigable water.” Furthermore, there was no evidence to establish the adjoining area in question was customarily used by the employer in the loading, unloading, repairing, dismantling or building a vessel. Claimant therefore did not meet situs or status test necessary to be covered by the LHWCA.  The Court noted that the Claimant “was performing work on property used to construct physical reinforcements to stabilize the earth around a boat launch.” Claimant’s involvement in building the boat ramp was deemed insufficient to trigger application of the LHWCA.

Hernandez v. Louisiana Workers’ Compensation Corp.