Hi this Brian Wiklendt with Garfinkel Schwartz.
I’m coming to you today from our Maitland Florida office which is a suburb of Orlando.
We also have offices on the Space Coast in Cocoa Beach Florida.
But I travel all around the world all around the country to represent people that are under
special laws that are covered by the Federal Government.
I’m coming to you today although I shouldn’t have to tell you this although I find in necessary
because so many people call me and the don’t know which law they’re under or what types
of claims they may have once they’ve been injured.
I’m talking about people that are under the Longshore Act, the Continental Shelf Act,
the Non-Appropriated Funds Act, the Defense Base Act.
All these are offshoots of one another and they apply to people it sounds so complicated
but it just simply applies to people who work somewhere that get injured under a contract
that are not on a state territory, they’re not part of a state.
So to make it very simple without all those large and giant words, if you work and you
get injured at a military base or an airport maybe or a port authority.
Or maybe you’re working on an oil rig.
Or maybe you’re working somewhere outside of the United States under a government contract
whether that be Iraq, Afghanistan, Africa.
Anywhere that you couldn’t say, “hey, I got injured in a particular state of the
United States,” you may or may not—probably will be covered by a law that our firm specializes
in that our firm only does that type of work.
It’s a special niche of federal worker’s compensation type laws.
So if you do get injured and you don’t know what’s going on and no one will tell you
what your rights are and who you’re supposed to call when you get injured.
You should probably look into calling us or an attorney that specializes in this type
of law if you are working in an area that is labeled as a federal land as opposed to
a state land.
And this also applies to rivers, certain rivers, certain areas of rivers, and tributaries,
and deltas of rivers are governed by the United States government, the federal government.
And the reason that I have to tell you this and explain this to you is because a lot of
employers…
I’ve gotten so many calls where employers will not cooperate and will not tell you what
area of law you’re under.
And so a lot of people come home, let’s say they come home—I’m going to Wichita
Kansas next week—so my client in Wichita Kansas gets injured in Afghanistan.
He goes back home and starts calling the yellow pages, for state worker’s comp attorneys
because he thinks it’s a workman’s comp case.
But he doesn’t realize that this is a federal case.
And not many worker’s comp attorneys that do state worker’s comp have any idea what
the federal rules and federal laws are.
They’re very complicated.
So you have to find
They’re very complicated so you have to find someone who specializes in that.
My advice would be as part of going back overseas and you’re entering into the federal realm
or the longshore realm and you’re starting a job, one of the things on your checklist
should be, while you’re endeavoring into the contract, if I get injured, what law am
I covered under?
Am I under the Defense Base Act?
Is this a longshore case?
Who would be the insurance company be if I get injured?
They’re going to tell you those things if you ask but they’re not going to tell you
those things if you don’t ask.
So if something bad does happen at least you know who to call right away instead of sitting
in a hospital and wondering what these people are going to do.
If they’re going to abandon you.
Are they going to tell you what to do?
Are you going to have to look for it on by yourself?
At least you know a starting point.
Hey I think I work under federal lands, maybe I should ask my employer before anything happens.
Is this going to be CNA, AIG, Broadspire, Zurich.
Who am I going to be dealing with if I do happen to get injured in this area of land
that’s a federal land?
So any questions you have even if you may or may not be covered, it’s definitely worth
a phone call to me or anyone else that specializes in this type of federal law so.
I hope nothing ever happens to you I hope you don’t have to call.
But if something happens and you get injured and you really don’t know where you stand
please give us a call for free, we’ll talk to you and explain to you what your rights
are and we can take it from there.
So thanks again for listening.
I’m Brian Wiklendt, lead counsel at Garfinkel Schwartz, signing off from the Maitland Florida
office.