Workers’ Compensation · Primary-source case analysis

Del Vecchio: The Longshore Presumption Drops Out After Substantial Contrary Evidence

By Aneeta Mishra and Timothy Chan

Published August 17, 2026

Del Vecchio v. Bowers reviewed a denied Longshore Act death claim after an employee died from a close-range gunshot while on duty and the evidence permitted competing accident and suicide inferences.

A self-inflicted gunshot produced competing inferences

Jeff Bowers was found mortally wounded inside the employer’s store near his own pistol. Physical evidence supported an inference of suicide, while surrounding circumstances also permitted an accidental explanation.

Section 20 supplied an initial presumption

The Act presumed, absent substantial evidence to the contrary, that the injury was not occasioned by the employee’s willful intent to injure or kill himself. That presumption initially protected the claim from denial without contrary proof.

Substantial contrary evidence removed the presumption

Once the employer introduced evidence sufficient to support a suicide finding, the presumption no longer carried independent evidentiary weight. The deputy commissioner then had to decide the disputed fact from the record.

The supported denial was restored

Because the evidence permitted the suicide inference, the Supreme Court treated the deputy commissioner’s weighing as conclusive and reversed the judgment setting the denial aside. Later APA and Longshore precedent must be consulted for current burden terminology and review standards.

Key takeaways

• Identify the precise statutory presumption and the fact it addresses.
• Separate the burden of production from the ultimate burden of persuasion.
• Develop the physical, medical, workplace, and circumstantial evidence on both sides.
• Apply current Longshore and APA precedent rather than treating the 1935 vocabulary as self-executing.