Owcp

Albina Engine & Machine (“Albina”) petitions for review of a decision of the Benefits Review Board (the “Board”) upholding the Administrative Law Judge’s (“ALJ”) ruling that Albina is liable for payment of death benefits to Karen McAllister (“Claimant”) under the Longshore and Harbor Workers’ Compensation Act (the “LHWCA”), 33 U.S.C. § 901 et seq. Claimant is the widow of James McAllister (“Decedent”), who died of mesothelioma as a result of exposure to asbestos during his work as a carpenter for three shipyard employers, one of which was Albina. Albina argues that the Board misconstrued existing law on the burden of proof in LHWCA proceedings against multiple employers, misapplied the “last employer” rule, and upheld the ALJ’s decision that was not supported by substantial evidence. Albina further contends that liability for payment of benefits should have been assigned instead to Lockheed Shipbuilding (“Lockheed”), another of Decedent’s former employers. We have jurisdiction under 33 U.S.C. § 921 (c) and grant the petition for review, concluding that Lockheed is liable for the payment of benefits.

I. BACKGROUND

In 1956, Decedent worked as a shipyard carpenter in the…