Page:United States Reports 502 OCT. TERM 1991.pdf/249

 502us1$$8Z 08-21-96 15:22:32 PAGES OPINPGT

Cite as: 502 U. S. 81 (1991)

91

Opinion of the Court

See, e. g., Longshoremen v. Davis, 476 U. S. 380, 389–390 (1986); San Diego Building Trades Council v. Garmon, 359 U. S. 236, 243–245 (1959). The administrative proceedings outlined under the LHWCA in no way approach “the NLRA’s ‘complex and interrelated federal scheme of law, remedy, and administration’ ” requiring pre-emption in those cases. Longshoremen, supra, at 389 (quoting Garmon, supra, at 243). Neither is it “essential to the administration” of the LHWCA that resolution of the question of coverage be left “ ‘in the first instance’ ” to agency proceedings in the Department of Labor. Longshoremen, supra, at 390 (quoting Garmon, supra, at 244–245). Finally, Southwest Marine suggests that an employee’s receipt of benefits under the LHWCA should preclude subsequent litigation under the Jones Act. To the contrary, however, we have ruled that where the evidence is sufficient to send the threshold question of seaman status to the jury, it is reversible error to permit an employer to prove that the worker accepted LHWCA benefits while awaiting trial. Tipton v. Socony Mobil Oil Co., 375 U. S. 34, 37 (1963). It is by now “universally accepted” that an employee who receives voluntary payments under the LHWCA without a formal award is not barred from subsequently seeking relief under the Jones Act. G. Gilmore & C. Black, Law of Admiralty 435 (2d ed. 1975); see 4 A. Larson, Workmen’s Compensation Law § 90.51, p. 16–507 (1989) (collecting cases); Simms v. Valley Line Co., 709 F. 2d 409, 412, and nn. 3 and 5 (CA5 1983). This is so, quite obviously, because the question of coverage has never actually been litigated. Moreover, the LHWCA clearly does not comprehend such a preclusive effect, as it specifically provides that any amounts paid to an employee for the same injury, disability, or death pursuant to the Jones Act shall be credited against any liability imposed by the