Casino Boat Not a Vessel for Jones Act Purposes

Is a cocktail waitress on a casino riverboat a Jones Act seaman? Not if the boat is permanently docked, says the U.S. Fifth Circuit. "The rule has never been “once a vessel, always a vessel.” ... [O]nce the TREASURE CHEST was withdrawn from navigation so that transporting passengers, cargo or equipment on navigable water was no longer an important part of the business in which the craft was engaged, the craft was not a vessel. Martin v. Boyd Gaming Corp., No. 03-30389 c/w 03-30459 (5th Cir. July 8, 2004).

Posted by RPW at July 8, 2004 05:10 PM