Maritime Workers’ Compensation Act Preempts Asbestos Exposure Claims Against Insurers, La. Federal Judge Rules

NEW ORLEANS — The Longshore and Harbor Workers’ Compensation Act (LHWCA) preempts asbestos exposure claims against Huntington Ingalls Inc. (Avondale) and its insurers, Travelers Indemnity Co. and Lamorak Insurance Co., because the decedent performed traditional maritime work at a dry dock, a Louisiana federal judge has ruled.

In a May 4 order, Judge Sarah S. Vance of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana noted the 5th Circuit has held that the LHWCA “impliedly grants the employer’s insurance carrier, and the insurance carrier of co- employees, the same immunity which it grants the employer and co-employees.”

“The …