Defense Base Act
If you or your spouse or loved one has been injured or suffered a wrongful death while employed as a non-military civilian contractor in Iraq or Afghanistan, find out what your rights are. Find out how the DBA lawyers at NaylorLaw.com law can help you successfully maneuver through the complexities of the Defense Base Act.The Defense Base Act applies to civilian employees under contract to the United States to perform "public works" outside the continental United States. This includes many civilians working in conjunction with the U.S. military or other government agencies in Afghanistan, Iraq, and on military, air, and naval bases outside the United States.
Examples of covered workers include interpreters, private security, medical teams, construction workers, utility workers, engineers, and non-military support staff. Many other workers are also covered.
The Defense Base Act is an extension of the Longshore and Harbor Workers' Compensation Act (LHWCA) and provides disability compensation and medical benefits to employees and death benefits to eligible survivors of covered workers.
All types of injuries and illness that arise from the employment are covered. In war zones, serious physical injuries such as paralysis, amputation and brain damage are all too common. Psychological injuries are covered as well. Civilian workers exposed to life threatening harm suffer the same kind of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder as their fellow soldiers when returning home. Prompt, expert treatment for PTSD is essential for maximum recovery. The lawyers at NaylorLaw.com can help you find the expert care you need and deserve.
Some of the dangerous jobs covered by the Defense Base Act are bomb disposal expert, PMC (private military contractor-former soldier/police officer), engineer, medic, truck driver, translator, constructor worker, technician, electrician, consultant, utility worker, project manager, and carpenter.
Companies who employ non-military civilians in Iraq and Afghanistan include KBR, Halliburton, Blackwater Security, General Electric, Lockheed Martin, L-3 Communications, DynCorp International, Titan Security, and Environmental Chemical Corp. to name a few.
The Defense Base Act also covers American civilian employees providing welfare or similar services outside the U.S. for the benefit of the military such as the United Service Organizations (USO).
Civilian workers, wounded in war zones get treated in military hospitals, but once home, must find their own doctor to receive care; and while covered workers are entitled to a "free choice" physician, the worker only gets one free choice. Many Defense Base Act employers unlawfully try to steer injured workers to their hand picked, or so called "approved" doctors. Choosing a company doctor or the wrong doctor can jeopardize your recovery and your claim. The lawyers at NaylorLaw.com can help you avoid that mistake.
While one war is over for you in the Middle East, another war is beginning in your own backyard: The war of receiving benefits and treatment for the injuries suffered or the fight for loved ones to receive wrongful death compensation.
What should be straightforward is instead a maze of complex forms and bureaucratic red tape to stymie the uninitiated, the injured, the stressed, and the saddened non-military civilians and their next of kin.
The lawyers at NaylorLaw.com can tell you your rights and your responsibilities under the Defense Base Act. There is no cost and no obligation for this free information. If you do want one of our lawyers to represent you, there are no attorney fees unless you are awarded benefits under the Defense Base Act. The same applies to next of kin seeking wrongful death compensation.
You can live anywhere in the United States and contact NaylorLaw.com; there are no geographical boundaries. The expertise you are looking for is uncommon. Most lawyers don't know what the Longshore and Harbor Workers' Compensation Act (LHWCA) is, and don't know how it is applied through the Defense Base Act. The lawyers at NaylorLaw.com know the LHWCA, the Defense Base Act and care about you.
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