Supreme Court Accepts Punitives Case Involving Seaman Denied Benefits

The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to decide whether a seaman may sue his employer for punitive damages for willfully failing to pay lost wages and medical compensation.

At issue is whether two federal laws governing compensation for seamen’s injuries restrict recoveries to pecuniary losses, SCOTUSblog reports. The Atlanta-based 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals had allowed the punitives claim, despite a Supreme Court ruling barring recovery for another nonpecuniary claim of loss of society in a maritime wrongful death action. The 11th Circuit decision (PDF) said that despite the Supreme Court ruling, an earlier 11th Circuit decision on punitives still applied.

The case is Atlantic Sounding v. Townsend. SCOTUSblog posted the cert petition (PDF).