Sometimes judges just have to make a call. Yes or no, in or out, liable or not.
In this case, that call was what interest rate past unpaid benefits earned. The case title is Price v. Stevedoring Services of America, Inc., original opinion can be downloaded here.
The Longshore Act does not provide for the provision of interest explicitly, but the Director of the Office of Workers' Compensation Programs has taken the position that interest on past due payments should be awarded at the rate set forth in 28 U.S.C. 1961(a)(interest shall be calculated at a rate equal to the weekly average 1-year constant maturity Treasury yield).
The claimant in this case sought interest at a rate that borrowers would have to pay (logically suggesting that if claimants did not receive benefits from their employers and had to borrow, that cost to acquire funds is an appropriate measure of the deprivaton). The court, however, found the Director's position to be not unreasonable and deferred to the Director's judgment.
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