Miami is home to thousands of yachts, sailboats, and other pleasure boats. Some yacht owners are in a financial position to hire their own staff and crew for these ships, while others rely on staff from various staffing and placement agencies to crew their ships. Whether you work for a yacht owner directly or for one of these staffing companies, you could face various risks of injury on the job as a yacht crewmember.
Injured seamen, sailors, and yacht crew members are often allowed to sue their employer or the owner of the yacht for injuries sustained while working, and our attorneys help these kinds of crewmembers with their injury cases. If you are a yacht crewmember who was injured on the job in Florida, our Miami attorneys for injured yacht crewmembers might be able to help. For a free legal consultation, call Rivkind Margulies & Rivkind, P.A. today at (866) 386-1762.
Types of Accidents and Injuries for Yacht Workers and Crew in Miami
Whether working on a yacht as crew, as a cook, as waitstaff, or as entertainment, you face certain risks of injury. Some of these injuries come with the territory of working on a boat or ship while others could happen in any job on land or at sea. If you were injured by any of the following accidents or by intentional injury, you might be entitled to sue the responsible parties, your employer, or the yacht owner.
Slip and Fall Injuries
Decks on yachts can get wet, but it is often up to your employer or other crewmembers to ensure that the decks are safe for passengers and crew. If you slipped and fell because of dangerous conditions aboard the yacht, you might be entitled to sue for any injuries you faced, such as back or head injuries.
Lifting and Carrying Injuries
Yacht crewmembers are often responsible for loading supplies and luggage on private yachts. If in the course of performing those duties, you are forced to lift more than you can carry or are not given the proper supervision and help you need, you could be seriously injured. Back injuries and other injuries from these kinds of lifting and carrying accidents can often keep you out of work for a prolonged recovery.
Assault and Sexual Assault
Many yacht crewmembers work for wealthy, powerful people. Your position as a worker on their yacht by no means gives these individuals the right to lay hands on you or touch you in a way that you do not consent to. If you were assaulted by an unruly yacht owner or passenger, or if you were inappropriately touched or sexually assaulted by one of these individuals, you might be entitled to file a lawsuit against the individual and your employer.
Overboard Injuries
If you or a loved one suffered serious injuries from falling overboard from a yacht, you could be entitled to sue the responsible parties. Many overboard accidents result in broken bones and internal injuries during the fall. Others are fatal or result in the victim being lost at sea, which could allow the family of a yacht crewmember to sue for wrongful death.
Fires and Burns
Yachts could be susceptible to mechanical failures and engine problems that could result in fires aboard the vessel. Chefs and kitchen workers could face burns in the course of their normal duties, or problems aboard the ship could cause the kitchen or other areas of the ship to catch fire. If dangerous conditions or lack of proper maintenance on a ship caused these fires, crewmembers could be entitled to sue.
Equipment Malfunctions
Gangplanks, winches, and other equipment on a yacht or sailboat must be kept in proper working order. If the owner of the boat fails to keep things in line, workers and crewmembers could be seriously injured in accidents, potentially entitling them to lawsuits.
Filing a Lawsuit for Injuries While Working on a Yacht in Miami
If you were injured in any of these ways or because of any other accident or dangerous conditions while working on a yacht in Florida, you might be entitled to file a lawsuit. While Florida law uses workers’ compensation for most workers, sailors, seamen, and yacht workers are often excluded from this system. This means that they can sue their employers and yacht owners for injuries they caused.
To prove an injury case against a yacht owner or your employer, you must prove that they did something wrong that led to your injury. Legally speaking, this is known as “negligence,” and is based on four elements:
- The defendant owed you a duty in your capacity as a yacht crewmember.
- The defendant breached that duty.
- The breach of duty caused your injuries.
- You suffered injuries and damages you can get compensation for.
Claiming that the defendant failed to keep the yacht seaworthy or failed to take reasonable steps to keep employees safe is a common claim to make in these cases. In other cases where injuries were caused by intentional acts of violence, you can sue the individual who assaulted you, but the owner or operator of the yacht might share responsibility because they provided negligent security.
Call Our Yacht Injury Lawyers for Staff and Crew in Miami
If you or a loved one worked on a yacht in the Miami area and was seriously injured in an accident or faced assault or sexual assault while onboard, call Rivkind Margulies & Rivkind, P.A. Our Miami attorneys represent injured yacht crewmembers for cruise ship spine injuries, TBIs, broken bones, and more and can help investigate your case and file your claim in court to help get you compensation for lost wages, medical bills, and pain and suffering. For a free case consultation with our Florida lawyers for injured yacht crewmembers, call us today at (866) 386-1762.
