← Legal Glossary
Defense Base Act
Definition
A 1941 federal law that provides workers' compensation coverage for civilian employees of government contractors working on U.S. military bases overseas. In exchange for guaranteed compensation, employees give up their common law tort claims against the contractor.
Examples
- •Petitioner cited the Defense Base Act to show that Congress knows how to limit contractor liability when it wants to, and its failure to extend similar protections to soldiers' claims was deliberate