• Menu
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to secondary navigation
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Before Header

  • About
  • Search
  • Resources
  • Privacy
  • Contact
 

Amaxx Workers Comp Blog

Reduce Workers Compensation Costs By 20-50%

Header Right

  • Home
  • Books
    • Big Book
    • Mini Book
  • Training
    • WC Mastery Membership
    • Course Curriculum
    • Certified Master of Workers’ Compensation
    • Certified Master of WC – Best in Class
  • Coaching
    • CompElite Strategic Coaching for Employers
    • BrokerElite Coaching for WC Business Growth
  • Software
  • Blog
  • Advertising

Mobile Menu

  • Home
  • Books
    • Big Book
    • Mini Book
  • Training
    • WC Mastery Membership
    • Course Curriculum
    • Certified Master of Workers’ Compensation
    • Certified Master of WC – Best in Class
  • Coaching
    • CompElite Strategic Coaching for Employers
    • BrokerElite Coaching for WC Business Growth
  • Software
  • Blog
  • Advertising
  • About
  • Search
  • Resources
  • Privacy
  • Contact
You are here: Home / Federal Workers Compensation / D-Day and Workers Compensation Claims

D-Day and Workers Compensation Claims

June 10, 2014 By //  by Attorney Theodore Ronca Leave a Comment

This past Friday, June 6th marked the 70th anniversary of the D-Day landings. Justifiably, the focus of attention was on the hundreds of thousands of service personnel who participated. What is rarely discussed are the hundreds of thousands of civilian employees participating in or near the combat areas and sustaining many casualties resulting in death or injury.

 
Civilian Casualties Were Not Considered Compensable Prior to Defense Based Act

 

Prior to, and in the early days of, WWII, civilian casualties during war, or by terrorists were not considered compensable as workplace injuries because of the exclusion from insurance contracts for acts of the “common enemy”. That was, in the US, largely rectified by the Defense Base Act, enacted on 8/16/41, which gave broad federal workers comp coverage to workers, overseas and otherwise, who were working under a defense contract. That would also include Red Cross workers and USO entertainers (think Bob Hope and his troupe).

 

 

Higher Percentage of Civilian Merchant Marines Killed Than Marine Corps

 

The Merchant Marine, however, fell through the cracks. Although a greater percentage of mariners were killed than those in the Marine Corps (3.9% and 2.94%, respectively) the merchant mariners were not given veteran status until 1988. Since they were paid civilian wages, far higher than the military, and had the right to refuse a voyage that they considered too dangerous, they were considered “civilians”. But the Jones Act, under which they were covered, was only for negligence on the part of the ship owners and the Defense Base Act did not cover them.

 

Civilians could also be found serving in unlikely places. One of the aircraft carriers in the Battle of Midway had to be sent while its repairs were not yet completed from the Battle of the Coral Sea. As a result, civilian workers were kept aboard and were still completing repairs as the ship sailed into battle.

 

Red Cross workers do not appear to have been disembarked during D-Day but they were surely aboard the ships already at sea for the follow up landings.

 

Reading work comp court decisions during and after WWII, one is struck by the nearly complete silence on the war, almost as if it hadn’t happened. That can be due to the fact that injuries in the combat zone had few ways in which they could NOT be compensable and therefore didn’t make it into court decisions. In addition, there was a war-time culture that simply would not deny a trivial compensation claim in an environment of extreme sacrifice being the common experience.

 

 

Courts Should Not Be Blind To What Is Obvious To All

 

For this author, the Defense Base Act was his first comp appeal victory, while still a law student. The plaintiff was driven into extreme stress reactions, physical and mental, while serving as the construction foreman in the desert in the Horn of Africa in 1970. Every night, bandits raided his base, stealing the supplies. The work was supervised by the US Army Corps of Engineers but the contract was issued as a foreign aid agricultural assistance program. The base was a listening post for oil tankers entering and leaving the Red Sea.

 

The court agreed with the law student and quoted Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes that “Courts should not be blind to what is obvious to all.”

 

To all those in the landings of June 6, 1944…………THANKS!!

 

 

Author: Attorney Theodore Ronca is a practicing lawyer from Aquebogue, NY. He is a frequent writer and speaker, and has represented employers in the areas of workers’ compensation, Social Security disability, employee disability plans and subrogation for over 30 years. Attorney Ronca can be reached at 631-722-2100. medsearch7@optonline.net

 

©2014 Amaxx Risk Solutions, Inc. All rights reserved under International Copyright Law.

 

WORK COMP CALCULATOR: http://www.LowerWC.com/calculator.php

MODIFIED DUTY CALCULATOR: http://www.LowerWC.com/transitional-duty-cost-calculator.php

WC GROUP: http://www.linkedin.com/groups?homeNewMember=&gid=1922050/

SUBSCRIBE: Workers Comp Resource Center Newsletter

 

Do not use this information without independent verification. All state laws vary. You should consult with your insurance broker, attorney, or qualified professional.

Filed Under: Federal Workers Compensation

Related Articles

Understanding Federal Workers’ Compensation Claims

Understanding Federal Workers’ Compensation Claims

Know Your Federal Acts in Workers Compensation: ADA, ERISA, FMLA

Know Your Federal Acts in Workers Compensation: ADA, ERISA, FMLA

Maritime Workers, The Jones Act, And Workers Compensation Explained

Maritime Workers, The Jones Act, And Workers Compensation Explained

Why Workers Comp Laws Are State, Not Federal

Why Workers Comp Laws Are State, Not Federal

Changes to FECA Reflected at this Year’s Federal Workers’ Compensation Conference

Changes to FECA Reflected at this Year’s Federal Workers’ Compensation Conference

The Best Tidbits of News from the Workers Comp World

The Best Tidbits of News from the Workers Comp World

$39 Million in Illness Compensation Further Clarified

$39 Million in Illness Compensation Further Clarified

Chemical Safety Board Develops New Employee Participation Investigation Policy

Chemical Safety Board Develops New Employee Participation Investigation Policy

MSHA Unveils Numbers from Mine Safety Sweeps

MSHA Unveils Numbers from Mine Safety Sweeps

Workers Compensation News in Brief for February 2012

Workers Compensation News in Brief for February 2012

Amaxx Details 2012 Workers Compensation Management Program Updates

Amaxx Details 2012 Workers Compensation Management Program Updates

California Postal Window Clerk Delivered Some Bad News

California Postal Window Clerk Delivered Some Bad News

Free Download

5-Step Sequence to Coordinate Return-to-Work with ADA Compliance - FREE Download Click Here Now!

Train to Succeed

BECOME CERTIFIED IN WORKERS’ COMPENSATION

Proven Course Catalog & WC Toolbox Give You The Power To Achieve Lower Costs and Better Injured Worker Outcomes

VISIT WORKERS' COMP TRAINING CENTER

Previous Post: « Virginia to Crack Down on Uninsured Employers
Next Post: New Zealand Construction Workers Build Safety »

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

FREE DOWNLOAD

5-Step Sequence to Coordinate Return-to-Work with ADA Compliance - FREE Download Click Here Now!

Our Sponsors

Catastrophic and Risk Solutions, Case Management Solutions, and Specialty Networks
 

Injury Management Solution for Employers

Blog Categories

Search Our Archive

Subscribe to Our FREE Newsletter

Return-to-Work Essentials

Footer

Search Our Archive

Search our continually growing archive of over 5,000 articles about Workers' Comp issues.

Quiclinks

  • Calculators
  • Terms & Abbreviations
  • Glossary of WC Premium Terms
  • WC Resources
  • Best Practices
  • Industries
  • Return-to-Work Essentials

RSS Recent Blog Posts

  • Win Without the Fight: How Employers Can Prepare for Trial—And Avoid It Entirely
  • From Adversaries to Allies: Why Employers and Defense Attorneys Must Act Like a Team
  • Breaking the Cycle: How Fear Drives Workers’ Comp Litigation—and What to Do About It
SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FEE NEWSLETTER
Let Us Help You Stomp Down the High Cost of Workers' Comp!
Top of Page ↑
  • Home
  • Training Center
  • Search
  • Membership
  • Products
  • Blog
  • About
  • Contact
  • Subscribe
  • Login
Copyright © 2025 Amaxx, LLC. All Rights Reserved. · Privacy Policy / Legal Notice