What effect did the 1984 amendments to the LHWCA have on the question of whether relief should be under state workmans compensation statutes or the LHWCA?
Amazingly, in Part II of its opinion, the majority reviews the entire history of the LHWCA from the Supreme Court’s decision in Southern Pacific Co. v. Jensen, 244 U.S. 205, 37 S. Ct. 524 (1917), right down to the Supreme Court’s 1985 opinion in Herb’s Welding, yet fails in recounting this historical background to mention once, much less apply or construe, the 1984 LHWCA Amendments. This legislation made significant changes in the structure and applicability of the LHWCA. Most significantly, the 1984 LHWCA Amendments defined six new categories of employment which were not included in the definition of the term “person engaged in maritime employment,” if the individuals described therein “are subject to coverage under a State workers’ compensation law.” See 33 U.S.C. § 902(3). The express statutory language of § 902(3) specifies that persons employed to perform certain tasks (described in clauses A, E, and F) or employed by certain employers (described in clauses B, C, and D) are not in
