Murray v. Joe Gerrick & Co.

Background

A steel erector fell from a crane being erected by his employers at the Puget Sound Navy Yard and died. His widow sued on her own and on behalf of their minor child, alleging the employers were negligent and that the employers failed to report work and pay into Washington’s state compensation fund. The trial court dismissed the widow’s claim because the state compensation law was not in force in the Navy Yard and wrongful-death suits there must be brought by the decedent’s personal representative; the state supreme court affirmed.

Reasoning

The central question was whether a 1928 federal law made Washington’s workers’ compensation scheme apply inside the Navy Yard. The Court explained that the 1928 law meant only that actions at law would not die with a victim, and that the law did not import the state’s compensation system into the federal yard. Washington’s 1911 compensation scheme had abolished ordinary negligence suits and the 1917 law gave the exclusive right to sue to the personal representative, so beneficiaries could not proceed on their own under the state system.

Real world impact

The decision means beneficiaries cannot bring suit under Washington’s compensation rules for injuries or deaths occurring in this federal Navy Yard. Only a decedent’s personal representative could pursue a wrongful-death action there. The ruling also prevents the State from collecting its compensation assessments from employers working inside the federal yard.