Opinion ID: 603790
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Plain Meaning of the Word Pier As Used in Maritime Commerce

Text: 78 As used in maritime commerce, the word pier refers to a platform extending from a shore over water supported by piles or pillars, used to secure, shelter, and provide access to vessels. Webster's II New Riverside University Dictionary (1984). The majority correctly notes that pier can also be used to refer to a place to promenade. Majority Opinion at 1551. 1 To ascribe to Congress an intent to compensate employees injured on a promenade pier with no connection to maritime commerce totally ignores the fact that Congress enacted the LHWCA under its admiralty jurisdiction to protect employers injured while engaged in maritime activities. The majority's conclusion that Congress intended to include injuries occurring on promenade piers within the coverage of the LHWCA ignores the long established principle that the states have exclusive jurisdiction to enact legislation to compensate employees injured on a non-maritime structure constructed on land. The Supreme Court has instructed that courts should avoid a literal interpretation of language used by Congress if such construction would require an absurd result and would be an impermissible exercise of legislature power. Haggar Co., 308 U.S. at 394, 60 S.Ct. at 339. I would interpret the word pier as used in section 903(a) to comport with its maritime usage, and thereby avoid a construction that would ascribe to Congress an intent to cover areas over which it has no jurisdiction. 79