Mary Graziano, Widow of Charles Graziano, Deceased v. General Dynamics Corporation v. Director, Office of Workers' Compensation Programs, United States Department of Labor

663 F.2d 340, 1981 U.S. App. LEXIS 16381
CourtCourt of Appeals for the First Circuit
DecidedNovember 2, 1981
Docket81-1007
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 663 F.2d 340 (Mary Graziano, Widow of Charles Graziano, Deceased v. General Dynamics Corporation v. Director, Office of Workers' Compensation Programs, United States Department of Labor) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the First Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Mary Graziano, Widow of Charles Graziano, Deceased v. General Dynamics Corporation v. Director, Office of Workers' Compensation Programs, United States Department of Labor, 663 F.2d 340, 1981 U.S. App. LEXIS 16381 (1st Cir. 1981).

Opinion

663 F.2d 340

Mary GRAZIANO, Widow of Charles Graziano, Deceased, Petitioner,
v.
GENERAL DYNAMICS CORPORATION, Respondent,
v.
DIRECTOR, OFFICE OF WORKERS' COMPENSATION PROGRAMS, United
States Department of Labor, Respondent.

No. 81-1007.

United States Court of Appeals,
First Circuit.

Argued June 4, 1981.
Decided Nov. 2, 1981.

Lillian C. Levine, Wakefield, Mass., with whom Bernard Cohen, Inc., Brockton, Mass., was on brief, for petitioner.

Norman P. Beane, Jr., Boston, Mass., with whom Stephen E. Laskin, and Murphy & Beane, Boston, Mass., were on brief, for respondent General Dynamics Corp., Boston, Mass.

Janet R. Dunlop, Atty., U. S. Dept. of Labor, Washington, D. C., with whom T. Timothy Ryan, Jr., Sol. of Labor, and Laurie M. Streeter, Associate Sol., Washington, D. C., were on brief, for respondent Director, Office of Workers' Compensation Programs.

Before CAMPBELL and BOWNES, Circuit Judges, and MAZZONE,* District Judge.

BOWNES, Circuit Judge.

This appeal involves the combined claims of Charles Graziano, deceased, for workmen's compensation benefits and Mary Graziano, his widow, for death benefits under the Longshoremen's and Harbor Workers' Compensation Act (Act). 33 U.S.C. § 901 et seq. Mary Graziano appeals from the Decision and Order of the Benefits Review Board of the Department of Labor (Board) reversing the unpublished Decision and Order of the Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) who awarded the claimants benefits on the basis that the decedent's occupation constituted "maritime employment" within the meaning of § 2(3) of the Act, 33 U.S.C. § 902(3). It having been stipulated between the parties that the decedent met the jurisdictional situs requirement of the Act, 33 U.S.C. § 903(a), the only issue for review is whether the decedent meets the status requirement of 33 U.S.C. § 902(3), which provides:

The term "employee" means any person engaged in maritime employment, including any longshoreman or other person engaged in longshoring operations, and any harborworker including a ship repairman, shipbuilder, and shipbreaker, but such term does not include a master or member of a crew of any vessel, or any person engaged by the master to load or unload or repair any small vessel under eighteen tons net.

The decedent, Charles Graziano, was employed from June 3, 1964, to January 30, 1974, as a maintenance-mason at General Dynamics, a corporation engaged in the building and repairing of ships. As one of only two men classified in the Maintenance Department as a mason-laborer, Graziano's duties primarily involved the repair of masonry in shipyard buildings, but also included digging ditches, breaking up concrete with a jackhammer, laying cement, grouting, removing asbestos from pipes, repairing boilers and manholes, and cleaning acid tanks. This work was conducted throughout the shipyard, including the steel mill, turret, metal, and pipe shops, and warehouses, areas which exposed the decedent to high levels of dust and noxious fumes.

In 1972, while Graziano was hospitalized for bladder, prostate, and kidney infections, a pulmonary disease was diagnosed and linked to the poor air conditions of his employment. After his release from the hospital, Graziano returned to work on December 18, 1972. Despite the lighter workload given to him, his condition continued to deteriorate, and on January 30, 1974, he was forced to leave his job permanently. After two more hospitalizations, Graziano died in the hospital on February 12, 1976. The cause of death was given as "pneumonia" due to "chronic obstructive lung disease" of some years' duration. ALJ Decision and Order at 4. During his lifetime, Graziano filed for compensation for permanent total disability and upon his death his widow filed for death benefits.

The decision of the ALJ, finding Graziano to be an "employee" within the meaning of 33 U.S.C. § 902(3), was reversed on appeal by the Benefits Review Board. The Board concluded that the overall duties of Graziano were not essential to the shipbuilding operations of General Dynamics, although his "work in cleaning out the acid tanks and maintaining the boilers in the steel mill arguably might constitute repair of shipbuilding equipment," meriting coverage under the Act. BRB Decision and Order at 4 n.1.

"Our review of the Board's decision is limited to 'errors of law, including the question of whether the Board adhered to the substantial evidence standard in its review of factual findings' by the ALJ." General Dynamics Corp. v. Director, Office of Workers' Compensation Programs, 585 F.2d 1168, 1170 (1st Cir. 1978), quoting Bath Iron Works Corp. v. White, 584 F.2d 569, 574 (1st Cir. 1978).

The courts of appeals have wrestled with the jurisdictional status requirement since its inception as part of the 1972 Amendments to the Act.1 "The question is made difficult by the failure of Congress to define the relevant terms-'maritime employment,' 'longshoremen,' 'longshoring operations'-in either the text of the Act or its legislative history." Northeast Marine Terminal Co., Inc. v. Caputo, 432 U.S. 249, 265, 97 S.Ct. 2348, 2358, 53 L.Ed.2d 320 (1977) (footnotes omitted).2 The language of the 1972 Amendments, however, is broad and suggests an expansive view of coverage. "The Act must be liberally construed in conformance with its purpose, and in a way which avoids harsh and incongruous results." Id. at 268, 97 S.Ct. at 2359, quoting Voris v. Eikel, 346 U.S. 328, 333, 74 S.Ct. 88, 92, 98 L.Ed. 5 (1953). Appellate courts have stressed the wide scope of coverage which the 1972 Amendments afford. See, e. g., Warren Bros. v. Nelson, 635 F.2d 552, 556 (6th Cir. 1980); Boudloche v. Howard Trucking Co., Inc., 632 F.2d 1346, 1347 (5th Cir. 1980), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 101 S.Ct. 3049, 69 L.Ed.2d 418 (June 8, 1981); Trotti & Thompson v. Crawford, 631 F.2d 1214, 1220-21 & n.5 (5th Cir. 1980); Price v. Norfolk & Western Ry. Co., 618 F.2d 1059, 1061 (4th Cir. 1980); Newport News Shipbuilding & Dry Dock Co. v. Graham, 573 F.2d 167 (4th Cir.), cert. denied, 439 U.S. 979, 99 S.Ct. 563, 58 L.Ed.2d 649 (1978); Alabama Dry Dock & Shipbuilding Co. v. Kininess, 554 F.2d 176, 178 (5th Cir.), cert. denied, 434 U.S.

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663 F.2d 340, 1981 U.S. App. LEXIS 16381, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/mary-graziano-widow-of-charles-graziano-deceased-v-general-dynamics-ca1-1981.