Recent Development by R. B. Graves III
On February 18, 1987, BJ–Titan ordered its at-will employee, tugboat captain Feemster, to embark on an eighteen-hour trip. Feemster refused, citing a federal maritime safety statute that forbids one person to navigate a vessel for more than twelve hours in any twenty-four hour period. BJ–Titan discharged Feemster, who brought suit for wrongful termination under general maritime law. The federal district court granted summary judgment for the defendant, ruling that neither the safety statute nor general maritime law gave Feemster a private right of action upon which to base his complaint. In affirming, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit held that general maritime law affords no private right of action for retaliatory discharge to a seaman who refuses to obey illegal orders. Feemster v. BJ–Titan Services Co./Titan Services, Inc., 873 F.2d 91 (5th Cir. 1989).
About the Author
R. B. Graves III.
Citation
64 Tul. L. Rev. 949 (1990)