Cruise Ship Law

DAVE ROBINSON, Plaintiff, v. ALTER BARGE LINE, INC., Defendant.
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF ILLINOIS
2007 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 18191
March 15, 2007, Filed

PROCEDURAL POSTURE: Plaintiff former employee sued defendant former employer in Illinois state court for retaliatory discharge under Illinois common law and for violation of 740 Ill. Comp. Stat. 174/20 of the Illinois Whistleblower Act, 740 Ill. Comp. Stat. 174/1-174/35. The employer removed the case to federal court and moved for summary judgment.

OVERVIEW: The employee, who worked as a deckhand aboard river towboats, claimed that he was terminated for reporting to a manager that coworkers were using illegal drugs. The court found that the employee's claim under the Illinois Whistleblower Act was preempted by 46 U.S.C.S. § 2114, which provided a cause of action for seamen who were discharged for reporting safety law violations to federal authorities; conflicts existed between the rights and remedies provided under the two statutes, and application of the Illinois statute would have destroyed the uniformity of the rules applicable to commerce on inland waterways. The employee lacked a viable claim under § 2114 because he did not refuse to perform any duties and had not made a report to federal authorities until after his discharge. The employee's common law retaliatory discharge claim was not preempted under § 2114 but was preempted by general maritime law; the only recognized exception to the at-will employment doctrine under general maritime law was when a seaman was terminated for filing a personal injury suit against an employer, while Illinois common law provided for a much wider range of viable retaliatory discharge actions.

OUTCOME: The employer's summary judgment motion was granted.