18 MONTH TIME PERIOD BETWEEN ACCIDENT AND FIRING OF FERRY CAPTAIN DID NOT ESTABLISH A CAUSAL CONNECTION TO SUPPORT RETALIATORY DISCHARGE CLAIM
WILLIAM SCHUPPMAN, Plaintiff, -against- PORT IMPERIAL FERRYCORPORATION and NEW YORK WATERWAY, Defendants
99 Civ. 3597 (SWK)
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK
2001 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 2682
March 14, 2001, Decided
March 15, 2001, Filed
PROCEDURAL POSTURE: Plaintiff ferry captain filed a complaint for a personal injury claim alleging unseaworthiness and negligence under the Jones Act, 46 U.S.C.S. ß 688 and a retaliatory disciplinary action claim. Defendant moved for partial summary judgment, for the retaliatory discharge, under Fed. R. Civ. P. 56.
OVERVIEW: Plaintiff, a ferry captain employed by the defendant slipped and fell down a ladder on a ferry boat and injured his knee. A letter was sent informing the defendant of the personal injury claim before the claim was filed. Defendant moved to dismiss the retaliatory disciplinary claim. The court granted the motion. The eighteen months between defendant's knowledge of the claim and plaintiffs termination did not establish a causal connection for a retaliatory discharge claim. There was no evidence of temporal proximity or disparate treatment and no rational trier of fact could find that the discharge was motivated by the claim. Defendant had legitimate reasons for termination when plaintiff crashed into another vessel and failed to report the incident, left passengers on the dock, and ran out of fuel on the river.
OUTCOME:Summary judgment was granted on the retaliatory discharge claim.
