Offshore Food Service, Inc. And Aetna Casualty & Surety Company v. Benefits Review Board

524 F.2d 967, 1975 U.S. App. LEXIS 11471

• Court: Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
• Decided: December 12, 1975
• Docket: 74-2754
• Status: Published

Opinion

PER CURIAM:

This is a petition for review of the decision of the Benefits Review Board affirming a compensation order entered by an Administrative Law Judge awarding disability benefits to a longshoreman pursuant to the Longshoremen’s and Harbor Workers’ Compensation Act, 33 U.S.C. § 901 et seq., as extended by the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act, 43 U.S.C. § 1333.

The motion of the Benefits Review Board to dismiss it as a party respondent to this appeal is granted. Neither the statutory provisions for review, 33 U.S.C. § 921(c), (Supp. II, 1972), nor Rule 15(a), F.R.A.P., requires the Board be a party, nor is its presence as a party necessary to effectuation of orders this court may enter. 1

The findings of the ALJ are supported by substantial evidence considered on the record as a whole. The attorney fees awarded to counsel for the claimant were reasonable. Thus the order of the Board is affirmed.

Counsel for claimant is awarded an additional fee of $750.00 for services on appeal to this court. 33 U.S.C. § 928.

1 . The Ninth Circuit and the D.C. Circuit have entered similar dismissals in appeals in which the Board was designated as respondent. Westfall & Westfall v. Benefits Review Board, # 73-2578, and Reichard v. Benefits Review Board, # 73-2579 (CA9, Dec. 5, 1973); McCord v. Benefits Review Board, # 74-1948, 514 F.2d 198 (D.C.Cir.1975).