On August 2nd, 2013, the Supreme Court of Canada ("SCC") issued a decision with far reaching consequences for Canadian maritime personal injury claims. In a case involving fatalities on a commercial fish boat, the SCC upheld Canadian provincial workers' compensation laws which bar claims by workers against employers and other workers. The decision should stem the rising tide of maritime workplace injury lawsuits started throughout Canada after the decision of the majority in the Newfoundland and Labrador Court of Appeal in this case in 2011.
The SCC reversed the decision of the Court of Appeal which held that the Newfoundland workers' compensation law (the "WHSCA") did not bar maritime workers' lawsuits because maritime negligence is a federal matter with which provincial laws may not interfere.
The SCC held that the statutory bar in the WHSCA preventing tort claims by an employee was constitutionally valid. They found that the doctrine of interjurisdictional immunity does not apply (to make the provincial WHSCA inapplicable to maritime claims) because, although the bar in the WHSCA affected the class of person who could bring a tort claim arising from a marine accident, that intrusion was not significant or serious.
The SCC also held that the doctrine of federal paramountcy did not apply to make the provincial WHSCA invalid because the federal Marine Liability Act ("MLA") and the WHSCA were not incompatible. The MLA contains language that contemplates situations in which a plaintiff, injured or killed in a maritime accident, would not be able to bring an action. Therefore, there was no inconsistency as the WHSCA simply provided for a different compensation scheme without the requirement of establishing fault.
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