Richard Patrick Feemster, Sr. v. Bj-Titan Services Co./titan Services, Inc.Richard Patrick Feemster, Sr. v. Bj-Titan Services Co./titan Services, Inc.
Richard Patrick Feemster urges us to create a private right of action under general maritime law for wrongful discharge for refusal to carry out an assignment that would violate a federal safety statute. We decline to create such a right and therefore affirm the judgment of the district court.
I
Richard Patrick Feemster, Sr. is a tugboat captain who worked for BJ-Titan on the M/Y JUNE J, pushing barges. At about 5 p.m. on February 18, 1987, BJ-Titan instructed Feemster to push a barge from Venice, Louisiana, to Lake Pagie, Louisiana, an eighteen-hour trip. Feemster contends that BJ-Titan was requiring him to make this trip without stopping, although BJ-Titan disputes that it forbade stops. Feemster refused to make the run on the grounds that it was too long to be safely navigated by one person and that it would violate a federal law that generally restricts vessel operation to twelve hours in a twenty-four-hour period. See 46 U.S.C. § 8104(h). When Feemster continued to refuse to accept the assignment, BJ-Titan management discharged him.
Feemster filed a complaint seeking damages, inter alia, for wrongful discharge under general maritime law. The district court granted summary judgment for BJ-Titan on grounds that Feemster failed to allege a cause of action. Feemster appeals.
II
Feemster argues that he has an implied right of action under general maritime law for wrongful discharge for refusal to perform an unlawful act. He contends that this case is analogous to
Smith v. Atlas Offshore Boat Service, Inc.,
BJ-Titan argues that
Smith
should not be broadened to provide for a cause of action in the instant case because the
Smith
court expressly limited its holding to its own facts. In addition, BJ-Titan cites
Belanger v. Keydril Co.,
III
Before addressing whether the rationale of
Smith
is applicable in this case, we must take a closer look at the public policy exception on which Feemster relies. Some courts have recognized exceptions based on public policy considerations that can, under certain circumstances, override the employment-at-will doctrine. These exceptions may apply when an employee is discharged for (1) refusal to commit an unlawful act, (2) performance of an important public obligation, or (3) exercise of a statutory right or privilege.
See
96 Harv.L.Rev.1931, 1936-73;
see also Smith,
IV
After thorough consideration of the facts and circumstances of the case, we have concluded that an exception to the empioyment-at-will doctrine is not warranted and that Smith should not be broadened to apply here. In the first place, public policy considerations are not so clearly implicated in this case as they were in Smith. In Smith, the plaintiff had a statutory right to bring a personal injury action against his employer. His discharge was a clear case of retaliation for exercising a statutory right since the employer punished Smith for doing what the law explicitly permitted him to do. In this case, as Feemster concedes, the statute at issue provides him with no personal right to refuse a management directive with which he disagreed, even if it violated a safety statute.
Second, we think it is inappropriate for us to engraft on this congressional act an additional provision granting a private cause of action. To do so would create new rights and duties when Congress, in enacting the statutes on which Feemster relies, clearly chose not to do so. When Congress reorganized and revised Title S. 46 in 1983, it stated its purpose as follows: “The ultimate aim of the legislation is three-fold: to make maritime safety and seaman protection law easier for the Coast Guard to administer, to make it less cumbersome for the maritime community to use, and to make it more understandable for everyone involved.” H.R. Rep. No. 338, 98th Cong., 1st Sess. 113 (1983) U.S.Code Cong. & Admin.News 1983, p. 924 (emphasis added). In the light of its own statement about the aim of this legislation and the means of enforcement, and recognizing that Congress has only recently amended these laws, we believe it is significant that Congress provided no private right of action for retaliatory discharge. The general purpose of this legislation is to promote maritime safety, but not with employees acting as private enforcers and as private attorneys general; the agent of enforcement is the Coast Guard.
Third, our denial of a legal cause of action to a seaman here does not deny an individual seaman a voice in the enforcement scheme and the right to claim the benefits of the statute. An employee can complain of safety violations to the Coast
Fourth, in our view, this dispute never ripened to the extent that it can support a claim of retaliatory discharge for his refusal to commit an unlawful act. Feemster simply interposed his judgment against that of management that a safety violation would occur if he made the trip and he refused the assignment. He was discharged for that refusal. Feemster never embarked on his journey and there was no violation of law. Whether the law would have been violated is speculative. Thus, because the discharge arose in the absence of a clear requirement by management that Feemster violate the statute, it is difficult to characterize this as a retaliation that offends public policy.
For these reasons, the judgment of the district court is
AFFIRMED.