Virginia’s one major seaport is in its Tidewater Region.  Industry and commerce center around Hampton Roads, which is home to one of the largest naval bases in the world as well as major civilian shipping industries.  Workers’ compensation practitioners in the Tidewater who represent injured workers are often faced with dual jurisdiction: the Virginia Workers’ Compensation Act [Va. Code § 65.2-1 et seq.], and the federal Longshore and Harbor Workers’ Compensation Act (LHWCA) [33 U.S.C.S. § 901 et seq.] Frequently, benefits are better under the LHWCA but to preserve their client’s state rights practitioners will file a claim with the Virginia Workers’ Compensation Commission and advise the Commission that the injured worker is currently receiving benefits under the LHWCA. In this expert commentary, Peter M. Sweeny discusses how this common practice was challenged in Robert B. Wainwright v. Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Co., 50 Va. App. 421, 650 S.E.2d 566 (2007). Mr. Sweeny concludes that Virginia practitioners on both sides of claims will have to carefully review the claims being made and the issues being submitted for decision by the Virginia Workers’ Compensation Commission.  The defense will now have a harder time making a case that a claimant abandoned a part of his or her claim.  Claimants will have to be wary of language being included in defenses or decisions that have a broader reach than the facts and circumstances merit.

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