Defense Base Act Coverage for Overseas Maritime Workers

What is the Defense Base Act?

If you are injured while working overseas at a military or government facility, what steps can you take to recover compensation? Your first step is to schedule a free legal consultation with a California Defense Base Act lawyer.

You may recover workers’ compensation benefits under the Defense Base Act (DBA) if an injury happens while working for an employer performing overseas functions for the Department of Defense. The Act extends the benefits of the Longshore and Harbor Workers’ Compensation Act.

Conditions, equipment, and long distances from medical facilities can make overseas military work dangerous. When someone is injured working overseas for the Defense Department, the workers’ comp rules differ from those for state workers’ compensation programs.

Who May Receive Benefits Under the Defense Base Act?

Specifically, the Defense Base Act requires contractors to provide workers’ compensation coverage for civilian employees who, even if they are not United States citizens:

1. are under federal contracts, including service or construction contracts or contracts under the Foreign Assistance Act, related to U.S. defense or military activity outside the U.S. or the sale of military equipment or services to U.S. allies when conducted outside the U.S.
2. work on U.S. military bases or overseas properties used by the Department of Defense for military purposes
3. provide services for members of the Armed Forces outside the U.S., such as the USO

What Does the Defense Base Act Provide?

Under the Defense Base Act, depending on the details of an injury, an employee injured on the job may be entitled to necessary medical treatment and rehabilitation expenses as well as:

1. wage loss benefits for injuries that cause a temporary disability or force a worker to take lower-paying work: two-thirds of the worker’s average weekly earnings or two-thirds of the difference between the average weekly earnings and a worker’s new lower pay rate
2. permanent total disability benefits: wage loss benefits for life or as long as the worker cannot perform gainful employment
3. vocational rehabilitation training and expenses when a work-related injury keeps an employee from returning to his or her job
4. death benefits payable to dependents when an injury results in death

How Does the Defense Base Act Work?

The Defense Base Act requires defense contractors to provide workers’ compensation insurance coverage (or have the ability to self-insure) so that employees injured on the job may receive the benefits they are entitled to by the Act.

Employers covered by the Act are liable for an injured employee’s workers’ compensation benefits after an injury or death. Under the Act, contractors are considered the employer of a subcontractor’s employees if the subcontractor does not provide workers’ comp coverage.

Injured employees or surviving family members may bring personal injury or wrongful death actions against employers who fail to provide the workers’ compensation benefits that the DBA requires.

Injured While Working for a Defense Contractor Overseas?

If you sustain an injury while working overseas for the Department of Defense and the DBA covers you, take these steps:

1.  Call or seek medical assistance at once.
2.  In writing, notify your immediate supervisor about your injury, and keep a copy of your notification.
3.  Contact a California Defense Base Act attorney who will discuss your rights and guide you through the legal process.
4.  Complete form LS-201 (Notice of Employee’s Injury or Death) for your employer and send a copy to the District Director of the Department of Labor at the address on the form. The form must be completed and submitted within thirty days of the injury.
5.  Complete Form LS-203 (Employee’s Claim for Compensation) and submit it to the Department of Labor within one year of the injury date. Have your attorney review Forms LS-201 and LS-203 to ensure they are accurate and complete.
6. Choose an experienced doctor you trust when you return to the United States. You are entitled to the doctor of your choice.
7. A claims examiner from the Department of Labor will review your case. Cooperate and provide any information the examiner requests.

What if Your Defense Base Act Claim is Denied?

If your employer denies your DBA injury claim, the employer must complete and submit Form LS-207 to the Department of Labor. Ask your California Defense Base Act attorney to review the employer’s Form LS-207 and the reasons your injury claim was denied.

You may appeal the denial to the Department of Labor’s Office of Workers’ Compensation Programs (OWCP) with the help of your California Defense Base Act lawyer. If you appeal the denial of your claim, you must meet the deadlines and requirements specified by the OWCP.

Ask your attorney to submit a written appeal. A judge will hear your appeal and determine if your DBA benefits claim was wrongly denied. Your lawyer will prepare you for and accompany you to this hearing and present arguments and evidence on your behalf.

If the appeals judge rules against you, there are other options. Your attorney may suggest appealing to the Department of Labor’s Benefits Review Board or bringing a lawsuit in federal court. Your attorney will provide personalized guidance based on your injury and claim details.

Let the Law Offices of Preston Easley Handle Your Defense Base Act Injury Claim

Consulting a knowledgeable Defense Base Act lawyer is the first step toward understanding your options and contesting a denial of your injury claim. At the Law Offices of Preston Easley, our dedicated attorneys have extensive experience handling DBA injury claims.

Attorney Preston Easley is a United States Naval Academy graduate who served as an active-duty Naval officer for five years. As a California personal injury lawyer for more than thirty years, he has been a pioneer in expanding the rights of negligence victims.

Our award-winning senior associate, Peter “Max” Yovanovich, received his J.D. from the Loyola Law School, Los Angeles. He is a zealous advocate for the injured who has obtained million-dollar settlements on his clients’ behalf.

If you have been injured while working for a defense contractor overseas and are entitled to benefits under the Defense Base Act, call the Law Offices of Preston Easley – from anywhere in California or Hawaii – at 310-773-5207 – to schedule a no-cost, first legal consultation.