Opinion ID: 768782
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Waiver under state law

Text: 32 The district court should also consider, on remand, whether Mooney's conduct amounted to a waiver of his maritime claims under 113 of the New York Workers' Compensation Law. This is a fact-specific inquiry which the district court should conduct and resolve in the first instance. To assist that inquiry, we offer one point of clarification. 33 In Reyes, this Court noted preliminarily that if the actions of the employee in that case were deemed a waiver under New York law, we would be required to consider whether the state statute as applied conflicts with important federal regulatory interests. Reyes, 199 F.3d at 629. We believe that South Buffalo Ry. Co. v. Ahern, 344 U.S. 367 (1953), provides guidance in resolving this question. Ahern, an interstate railroad employee, was injured on the job and was awarded weekly compensation by the Board. See id. at 368. He later died of his injuries. See id. at 369. At a subsequent hearing to determine a final disability award, the railroad for the first time argued that the Board lacked jurisdiction over the workers' compensation claim because the deceased was covered under FELA, which allegedly deprived the Board of jurisdiction. See id. The Board rejected the argument and the New York Court of Appeals affirmed, invoking 113 and holding that Ahern had waived his FELA rights by accepting workers' compensation. See id. 34 On appeal to the United States Supreme Court, the railroad argued that the state high court's interpretation of 113 unconstitutionally authorize[d] the Workmen's Compensation Board to invade a field foreclosed by governing federal legislation. Id. at 370-71. The Supreme Court disagreed, finding that the New York Court of Appeals successfully avoided a federal-state collision by interpreting 113 as a mere legislative authorization, permitting the Board to effectuate private agreements for compromising a federal controversy by resort to an impartial local umpire -- that is all that section 113 of the Workmen's Compensation Law purports to accomplish. The difference between coercion and permission is decisive. Id. at 372 (emphasis in original) (internal quotation marks and footnote omitted). If, as a permissive legislative device, 113 would validly preclude an FELA action, we see no principled reason why it may not also bar a Jones Act or general maritime law claim. Therefore, if, on remand, the district court finds that Mooney's conduct would be an implied waiver under New York law, then the court may conclude that 113 precludes the present action. We stress, however, that we express no opinion on the merits of the City's waiver defense.