Recommended Citation
Craig H. Allen, Shipping Company Ordered to Pay Almost $1M for Demoting Whistleblower, Pac. Mar., Sept. 2018, at 38-39.
Publication Title
Pacific Maritime
Document Type
Article
Abstract
The US Department of Labor's (DOL) Administrative Review Board recently affirmed a DOL administrative law judge (ALJ) decision in favor of the former master of the Horizon Trader who had filed a complaint alleging that the Horizon violated the Seaman's Protection Act by discharging him in retaliation for making protected safety reports to the US Coast Guard and American Bureau of Shipping. In Loftus v. Horizon Lines, Inc. (DOL ARB Case No. 16-082), the board upheld the ALJ's award of $655,1998.90 in back pay plus interest; $10,000 in compensatory damages for emotional distress; $225,000 in punitive damages, and an unspecified amount to cover the seaman's litigation costs and attorney's fees.