Christopher Jones, brother of Gordon Jones, one of the 11 men who died aboard the Deepwater Horizon oil rig in April, testified Tuesday before the Senate Judiciary Committee on what he described as the unjust nature of the Death on the High Seas Act (DOHSA), a piece of legislation that limits how much families are entitled to following maritime deaths, and the necessity to update the current inequities for not only the families of the 10 other workers killed in the explosion but for all future maritime vessels.
“[BP] could potentially write a check for $1,000 dollars for a funeral costs and walk away, under the current Death on the High Seas Act,” Jones said.
DOHSA, passed in 1920 and not amended since, limits a corporation to compensating economic damages only and makes companies immune from entirely compensating families for additional costs incurred by the loss of life.
In 2000, after a Boeing 747-100 crashed off Long Island shortly after takeoff from Kennedy International Airport, the families of those aboard were awarded exemption from DOHSA and as of now, companies are liable to grant non-economic damages to families of victims that die in the sea as a result of a plane crash.
“We are here today to ask for that same amendment, so that everyone who perishes in federal waters is protected equally under the law and is allowed to recover non-pecuniary damages, so that there is no cap,” said Jones.
Brother Of Deceased Deepwater Horizon Employee Pleads For Equal Compensation
Christopher Jones, brother of Gordon Jones, one of the 11 men who died aboard the Deepwater Horizon oil rig in April, testified Tuesday before the Senate Judiciary Committee on what he described as the unjust nature of the Death on the High Seas Act (DOHSA), a piece of legislation that limits how much families are entitled to following maritime deaths, and the necessity to update the current inequities for not only the families of the 10 other workers killed in the explosion but for all future maritime vessels.
“[BP] could potentially write a check for $1,000 dollars for a funeral costs and walk away, under the current Death on the High Seas Act,” Jones said.
DOHSA, passed in 1920 and not amended since, limits a corporation to compensating economic damages only and makes companies immune from entirely compensating families for additional costs incurred by the loss of life.
In 2000, after a Boeing 747-100 crashed off Long Island shortly after takeoff from Kennedy International Airport, the families of those aboard were awarded exemption from DOHSA and as of now, companies are liable to grant non-economic damages to families of victims that die in the sea as a result of a plane crash.
“We are here today to ask for that same amendment, so that everyone who perishes in federal waters is protected equally under the law and is allowed to recover non-pecuniary damages, so that there is no cap,” said Jones.