Workers’ Compensation · Primary-source case analysis

Roberts: The Longshore Maximum Rate Turns on the Year Disability Begins

By Aneeta Mishra and Timothy Chan

Published September 6, 2026

Roberts v. Sea-Land Services, Inc. concerned a marine-terminal worker injured in fiscal year 2002 who received voluntary payments before an administrative law judge issued a formal award in fiscal year 2007.

The worker received benefits before a formal order

Sea-Land voluntarily paid Roberts for most of the period after his injury. When a dispute later produced an administrative order, he sought the higher statutory cap in effect during the order year.

The provisions had to function for voluntary payments

Reading newly awarded to require a formal order would leave many voluntarily paid claims without an identifiable cap, contrary to the Act’s prompt-payment structure.

Statutory entitlement begins with disability

The Court held that the applicable national average weekly wage is the one for the fiscal year in which disability begins and entitlement arises.

The Ninth Circuit judgment was affirmed

The Court rejected a rule that could reward delay or unnecessary proceedings and affirmed the fiscal-year-2002 cap, with Justice Ginsburg concurring in part and dissenting in part.

Key takeaways

• Identify the date disability began, not merely the date of an order.
• Audit voluntary payments and the annual statutory cap.
• Separate maximum-rate questions from average-weekly-wage calculations.
• Preserve notices, payment records, and administrative orders.