Cite as: 505 U. S. 469 (1992)
Blackmun, J., dissenting
is reasonable and furthers the underlying purpose of the Act." Id., at 117. The Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, in an unpublished opinion, upheld a similar BRB decision in 1984, finding the O'Leary approach "fully consistent with the language, legislative history, and rationale of" § 33(g). See Kahny v. OWCP, 729 F. 2d 777 (table) and App. 96, 108. No other courts had occasion to examine the O'Leary interpretation before the LHWCA was next amended.
C
The Longshore and Harbor Workers' Compensation Act Amendments of 1984, 98 Stat. 1639, revisited § 33(g). Id., at 1652. The former § 33(g) was carried over, with minor changes not relevant here, as § 33(g)(1), and a new subsection (g)(2) was added. Section 33(g) now reads as follows:
"(1) If the person entitled to compensation (or the person's representative) enters into a settlement with a third person referred to in subsection (a) for an amount less than the compensation to which the person (or the person's representative) would be entitled under this Act, the employer shall be liable for compensation as determined under subsection (f) only if written approval of the settlement is obtained from the employer and the employer's carrier, before the settlement is executed, and by the person entitled to compensation (or the person's representative). The approval shall be made on a form provided by the Secretary and shall be filed in the office of the deputy commissioner within thirty days after the settlement is entered into.
"(2) If no written approval of the settlement is obtained and filed as required by paragraph (1), or if the employee fails to notify the employer of any settlement obtained from or judgment rendered against a third person, all rights to compensation and medical benefits under this Act shall be terminated, regardless
489
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