Opinion ID: 150548
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Workers'-Compensation Exclusion

Text: The workers'-compensation exclusion does not preclude coverage for Texas Crewboats or Sylvester.
Clanton and Satterfield sued Texas Crewboats for negligence under the Jones Act. This exclusion precludes coverage for [a]ny obligation for which the insured or the insured's insurer may be held liable under any workers compensation ... or any similar law. The issue, therefore, is whether the Jones Act is similar to workers' compensation. It is not. The Texas Supreme Court has not addressed this precise question, and we have located only one published decision that is directly on point, Sanders v. Home Indemnity Insurance Co., 594 So.2d 1345, 1352-53 (La.Ct.App.3d Cir.1994). [4] In Sanders, 594 So.2d at 1352, the court considered the effect of a similar exclusion, stating that [t]his insurance does not cover... [a]ny obligation imposed by a worker's compensation ... law ... or any similar law. The court held that the Jones Act is not similar to workers' compensation because the former is based on the employer's negligence while the latter is not. See Sanders, 594 So.2d at 1352-53; see also Abogado v. Int'l Marine Carriers, 890 F.Supp. 626, 630 (S.D.Tex.1995) (explaining that workers'-compensation claims, which are imposed without regard to fault, are not similar to and independent of claims based on ... Jones Act negligence (citation omitted)). We find this reasoning persuasive. Furthermore, the operative phrase here, any similar law, is ambiguous with respect to the Jones Act claims. In light of this ambiguity, the court must interpret the term so that it does not exclude coverage. See Mid-Continent Cas. Co. v. Swift Energy Co., 206 F.3d 487, 491 (5th Cir. 2000) (citation omitted).
This exclusion does not apply to Sylvester. Clanton and Satterfield charged Sylvester with negligent and reckless driving. Because Sylvester was not Clanton or Satterfield's employer, such claims, if proven, would not create obligation[s] for which [Sylvester] or [his] insurer may be held liable under any workers compensation, disability benefits or unemployment compensation law or any similar law.