Washington State Ferry Employee Injuries

The Washington State ferries are the largest ferry operator in the United States, with over 1800 employees, 28 ferries operating in Puget Sound, 26 million passengers annually, 20 ports of call, and an annual budget in excess of $330 million. Millions of people ride the ferries every year to cross Puget Sound. In order to provide reliable and safe transportation for the public, the ferry system depends on the hard and skilled work of its knowledgeable deck crew and engineers. These dedicated workers operate in shifts five to seven days a week to provide efficient transportation to the public by directing traffic, navigating vessels, taking care of marine equipment, handling lines, interacting with passengers, and making certain that the vessels are clean and safe for the public.

Because these seaman are members of the crew of a vessel on navigable waters of the United States, they are not covered by any state workers' compensation laws and must seek recovery for injuries at work under the Jones Act, 46 U.S.C. §30104, or general maritime law. The Jones Act is a federal act that provides to seamen injured through negligence the same rights as railroad employees under the Federal Employees' Liability Act (45 U.S.C. §51, et. seq.); Evich v. Connelly, 759 F.2d 1432, 1433 (9^th Cir. 1985). Under the general maritime law, a ferry employee may also seek recovery for unseaworthiness if a piece of a vessel's equipment is not reasonably fit for its intended use. Mitchell v. Trawler Racer, Inc., 362 U.S. 539, 542, 80 S. Ct. 926, 4 L. Ed. 2d 941 (1960); Ribitzki v. Canmar Reading & Bates, Ltd. 111 F3d 658 (9^th Cir. 1997); Lee v. Pacific Far East Line, Inc., 566 F2d 65 (9^th Cir. 1977).

For decades, our lawyers have proudly represented hundreds of hard working employees of the Washington State ferries in Jones Act claims for injuries at work. Over the years, we have successfully tried multiple cases in court where we have obtained significant judgments for our client. These include a 2008 verdict in excess of $1.1 million for three workers who developed occupational asthma following exposure to chlorine gas, a $2,372,323 verdict for an oiler who developed fibromyalgia as a result of a fall on a ladder in the vessel's engine room, and a $781,990 verdict for an ordinary seaman who had injured her back operating a defective buffer in the vessel's cabin. Over the years, we have gained in-depth knowledge regarding how the ferry system and its claims department work. By obtaining full and fair compensation for ferry employees for Jones Act injuries, we have helped provide support for ferry workers and their families after devastating injuries and have promoted safer work practices on the ferries.