Maritime Law

• Author: International Law Group

Section 688(b)(1) of the Jones Act provides that "[n]o action may be maintained under ... this section or under any other maritime law of the United States for maintenance and cure or for damages for the injury or death of a person who was not a U.S. citizen at the time of incident ..." Section 688(b)(2) creates an exception to this ban if there are no remedies in the country having jurisdiction or in the home country.

Warren Roy Jackson, a Honduran seaman not residing in the U.S., injured himself while working on a vessel off the coast of Mexico and sued the vessel's owner and operator (jointly "defendants") in a Louisiana federal court. He based his liability claims on negligence and unseaworthiness arising under (1) the Jones Act, (2) the tort laws of Mexico and Honduras and (3) the international lex maritima. He contended that, while the Jones Act may bar him from making American law claims, it does not expressly preclude foreign citizens from bringing foreign or international claims.

The district court dismissed on the grounds that the Jones Act barred foreign law claims by foreign seaman and this appeal ensued. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit agrees with the plaintiff and reverses.

In the Court's view, the plain meaning of Section 688(b)(1) merely prevents a foreign...