Todd Pacific Shipyards Corporation Aetna Casualty and Surety Company v. Director, Office of Workers' Compensation Programs Annie Mayes

We must determine whether the Benefits Review Board of the Department of Labor correctly interpreted and applied section 8(f) of the Longshore and Harbor Workers’ Compensation Act, which provides an employer partial relief from liability for worker’s compensation payments when certain conditions exist.

I

On June 15, 1979, Annie Mayes, an employee of Todd Pacific Shipyards, injured her right knee during the course of employment. As a result of the injury, Mayes has suffered from a permanent disability which prevents her from returning to work at Todd Pacific. Assessments of Mayes’s vocational capabilities revealed that she had no skills suitable for sedentary work which she was physically capable of performing and that Mayes had no realistic employment potential.

Mayes filed a claim for benefits against Todd Pacific under the Longshore and Harbor Workers’ Compensation Act (“LHWCA” or “Act”). See 33 U.S.C. §§ 901-950 (1988). On November 16, 1984, an administrative law judge (“AU”) issued a decision and order in which he found Mayes to be permanently and totally disabled from April 17, 1981 as a result of a combination of her right-knee condition and preexisting mental…