Pacific Operators Offshore, L.L.P. v. Valladolid, No. 10-507; U.S. Supreme Court; opinion by Thomas, J.; partial concurrence by Scalia, J.; decided January 11, 2012. On certiorari to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.
Petitioner Pacific Operators Offshore, L.L.P. (Pacific), operates two drilling platforms on the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) off the California coast and an onshore oil and gas processing facility. Employee JuanValladolid spent 98 percent of his time working on an offshore platform, but he was killed in an accident while working at the onshore facility. His widow, a respondent here, sought benefits under the Longshore and Harbor Workers’ Compensation Act (LHWCA), 33 U.S.C. § 901 et seq., pursuant to the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (OCSLA), which extends LHWCA coverage to injuries “occurring as the result of operations conducted on the [OCS]” for the purpose of extracting natural resources from the shelf, 43 U.S.C. § 1333(b).
