## Facts

- Robert Gray worked as a welder for Herb’s Welding, Inc., performing welding and maintenance on pipelines and related equipment on fixed offshore oil-drilling platforms.
- The platforms were located in Louisiana territorial waters and were fixed structures rather than vessels.
- Gray was injured when an explosion occurred while he was welding a gas flow line; he injured his knee while fleeing the area.
- Gray sought federal workers’ compensation benefits under the Longshoremen’s and Harbor Workers’ Compensation Act (LHWCA).
- An Administrative Law Judge denied LHWCA benefits, finding Gray’s work insufficiently connected to maritime activity.
- The Benefits Review Board reversed, reasoning that LHWCA benefits applied through the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (OCSLA), even though the injury occurred in state waters.
- The Fifth Circuit affirmed an award of benefits on the theory that offshore drilling is “maritime commerce” and Gray’s work was “part and parcel” of that activity, satisfying both LHWCA situs and status.
- The Supreme Court granted review.

## Issues

1. Whether a welder working on a fixed offshore oil-drilling platform in state territorial waters is engaged in “maritime employment” under the LHWCA’s status requirement.
2. Whether courts may treat offshore oil-drilling work generally as “maritime commerce” such that workers supporting drilling qualify for LHWCA coverage.

## Decision

- The Supreme Court reversed the Fifth Circuit.
- Gray did not satisfy the LHWCA “status” requirement because his work on fixed platforms was not “maritime employment” as Congress used that term.
- The Court rejected the rule that offshore drilling is “maritime commerce” for LHWCA purposes and that any work connected to drilling is therefore maritime.
- Any gap or unevenness in coverage resulting from OCSLA’s geographic limits was a consequence of congressional line-drawing, not a basis to expand the LHWCA by interpretation.

## Legal Principles

- The post-1972 LHWCA requires both (1) a covered location (situs) and (2) “maritime employment” (status); satisfying location alone is insufficient.
- “Maritime employment” under the LHWCA is tied to traditional vessel-related functions, including the essential elements of loading/unloading and vessel construction or repair, rather than all work occurring offshore.
- Work on fixed offshore oil platforms, such as welding and pipeline maintenance, is not maritime employment absent a demonstrated, substantial connection to traditional vessel-related LHWCA activities.
- Courts should not expand LHWCA coverage to offset perceived “checkered” coverage created by OCSLA’s explicit geographic limitations; policy adjustments are for Congress.

## Conclusion

Because Gray’s welding work on a fixed offshore platform in Louisiana territorial waters was not “maritime employment,” he failed the LHWCA status requirement and was not entitled to LHWCA benefits, even if the situs requirement could arguably be met.


Herb’s Welding, Inc. v. Gray, 470 U.S. 414 (1985)