Smith v. Atlas Off-Shore Boat Service, Inc.

653 F.2d 1057 (5th Cir. 1981)

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Nature of the Case

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Facts

P suffered an ankle injury while working aboard the M/V TROJAN, a vessel engaged in servicing offshore oil rigs. P was employed for two-week shifts followed by two weeks of leave time after which he would be called back to work by D's port captain. His injury occurred at the end of a two-week work shift. Six weeks later, P returned to work on another vessel and worked a full two-week shift. During his subsequent leave, his attorney notified D that P intended to file a personal injury claim. At the end of P's leave, the port captain informed P that, unless he abandoned his personal injury claim, he could not return to work for D. P refused to drop the claim. The port captain terminated his employment. The suit was tried to the court. The judge awarded P $ 2,995, $ 1,495 for lost wages from the date of his injury to the date he returned to work, plus $ 1,500, as compensation for his pain and suffering. Determining that P had been intentionally and wrongfully discharged the judge awarded him $ 1,000 in punitive damages, thereby implicitly holding that an action for retaliatory discharge is cognizable in admiralty. Both parties appealed.