Why Texas Sends So Many Contractors Overseas

Houston is the hiring center of the government contracting industry. KBR and Halliburton are headquartered there, and the staffing firms and subcontractors that supply them cluster in the same market. Add the Army at Fort Hood and Fort Bliss, the joint bases around San Antonio, and a large veteran population that moves straight into contractor work after service, and Texas produces more Defense Base Act claims than any other state. A DBA claim is federal, so it is handled by the U.S. Department of Labor rather than by the Texas workers’ compensation system, and Texas law does not control the outcome.

Defense Base Act lawyers David L. Templer and Mark Hirsch, who handle Texas contractor claims
David L. Templer and Mark Hirsch at the firm's Aventura office. Both attorneys work these claims directly.

Texas Contractors and the Average Weekly Wage Fight

The biggest dispute in most Texas DBA claims is not whether you were hurt. It is what you were earning. Overseas pay is built in layers: a base wage, then hazard pay, hardship differential, per diem, overtime and a completion bonus at the end of the rotation. Carriers routinely calculate benefits on the base wage alone and leave the rest out. Because compensation runs at two thirds of the average weekly wage, that one decision can cut a check in half for the entire life of the claim. Texas contractors on high-uplift rotations lose the most from it, and it is one of the most winnable arguments in DBA practice.

Denied Claims and the Deadline That Ends Them

Texas contractors call us most often after a denial. Carriers deny on four grounds again and again: the injury was not work-related, the condition predated the deployment, notice or filing was late, or the medical record does not support the disability claimed. None of those is final. The case moves to an informal conference, then to a formal hearing before an administrative law judge on Form LS-18, and then to the Benefits Review Board. The Board appeal is the one that catches people, because a compensation order becomes final 30 days after it is filed. If you are holding a denial letter, the date printed on it is the most important fact in your file.

Gulf Coast Ports and the Longshore Act

Separately from the DBA, the Texas coast generates a heavy volume of ordinary Longshore Act claims. Workers at the Port of Houston, Galveston, Beaumont, Port Arthur and Corpus Christi who load, unload, build or repair vessels are generally covered by the Longshore and Harbor Workers’ Compensation Act rather than by Texas workers’ compensation. The federal system pays differently, lets you choose your own doctor, and runs through federal administrative judges. Texas workers are sometimes placed into a state or private plan when federal coverage would have paid more.

Estimate What Your Texas Claim Could Be Worth

The estimator below runs the same average weekly wage math a carrier uses. It takes about a minute and gives you a range to check any offer against.

Defense Base Act Settlement Estimator

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Texas Defense Base Act: What to Do

  1. Report the injury to your employer in writing and keep your own copy
  2. Save every pay record showing hazard pay, per diem, differential and bonuses, they drive your benefit rate
  3. Keep deployment records, incident reports and the names of anyone who witnessed it
  4. Do not treat a denial as final, most DBA denials are contested and many are reversed
  5. Watch the 30-day clock on any decision or order you disagree with

Texas Defense Base Act: Common Questions

Do I need a lawyer in Texas for a Defense Base Act claim?
No. The Defense Base Act is federal law, administered by the U.S. Department of Labor and heard by federal administrative law judges, so a Texas address does not require a Texas firm. Experience with DBA and Longshore practice is what changes outcomes. Templer & Hirsch handles these claims nationwide.
I worked for KBR overseas. Does that change my claim?
Not the coverage. DBA coverage follows the contract rather than the company, so employees of KBR, Halliburton, their subcontractors and the staffing firms that hire through them are all covered on the same terms. What the employer name does tell us is which insurance carrier holds the file, and carriers have consistent patterns in what they dispute and how they value a claim.
Does Texas workers’ compensation apply instead?
No. A Defense Base Act claim is federal and does not run through the Texas Division of Workers’ Compensation. Benefit rates, medical care and the appeal process are all set by federal law. Some Texas employers carry both kinds of coverage, which is a common source of confusion after an injury overseas.
How long do I have to file?
You generally have 30 days to give written notice to your employer and one year to file the formal claim, extended to two years for occupational diseases such as hearing loss or a burn pit illness. The clock can start later if you did not know the condition was work-related, which matters a great deal for illnesses that surface years after a rotation ends.

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