Bath Iron Works Corp. v. Director, Office of Workers' Compensation Programs

Background

Ernest C. Brown, a former riveter, was exposed to loud workplace noise from 1939–1947 and 1950 until his retirement in 1972. In 1985 an audiogram showed an 82.4% hearing loss and he filed a timely claim under the Longshore and Harbor Workers’ Compensation Act. Congress had added a separate retiree system in 1984 for diseases that do not become disabling until after retirement, and the parties disputed which formula should determine Brown’s benefits.

Reasoning

The Court addressed whether hearing loss discovered after retirement is a scheduled injury or a retiree occupational disease. The Court accepted the Director’s view that noise-induced hearing loss produces immediate disability when it occurs and therefore does not fall within the retiree provision for diseases that “do not immediately result” in disability. Reading the statute plainly, the Court held that work-related hearing loss is governed by the scheduled-injury rule, so the scheduled formula in the statute applies rather than the retiree calculation enacted in 1984. The Court rejected the alternative hybrid approach used by the Board and resolved conflicting appellate decisions in favor of applying the schedule.

Real world impact

The practical result is that workers who discover work-related hearing loss after retirement are entitled to the schedule’s benefit method, often producing a specific weekly amount for a set number of weeks rather than the retiree formula. The ruling affects retired claimants, employers, and insurers by changing which wage figure and calculation apply. The opinion also notes employers can reduce uncertainty by providing audiograms at retirement to fix compensable hearing levels.