Case Review: Cruise ship employee sues for sick wages
Cabrera Espinal was a tip-earning employee under a contract for Celebrity Cruises, Inc. The contract commenced on November 4, 1996 and expired on October 3, 1997. The contract guaranteed Espinal income of $ 743 per month ($ 50 in wages with the rest in tips). He could be terminated at any time and without notice.
Espinal developed an eye injury during his period of employment. The boat that Espinal was employed on docked in Los Angeles. Espinal signed off the ship on October 1, 1997 after the final voyage was completed. That was two days before his employment expired and the boat would leave port again.
Espinal was flown at company expense to Miami, where he received an initial examination. On October 4, 1997 he flew home to Honduras for surgery. His surgery was completed on December 3, 1997. At the time of Espinal's operation, Celebrity Cruise Lines merged with Royal Caribbean Cruises (RCC). RCC paid sick wages to Espinal based on the guaranteed minimum for 63 days under the then applicable collective bargaining agreement.
Espinal sued Royal Caribbean in the United States District Court For The Southern District Of Florida arguing that he was entitled to actual earnings of $ 1500 during that period. RCC argued that it was during the confusing time of the merger when it was unclear whose collective bargaining applied and paper work was lost that a disbursement for sick wages was made.
The district court ruled in favor of RCC stating that because Espinal's contract terminated on or about October 1, 1997, he was not entitled to receive any sick pay under either maritime law or the collective bargaining agreement as of that date.
Espinal appealed to the United States Court Of Appeals For The Eleventh Circuit.
The appeals court noted that Article 2 of the relevant collective bargaining agreement said that an employee is covered by the agreement until the owner ceases to be liable for wages or the date at which the employee signs off the ship. Espinal signed off the ship on October 1, 1997, after the final voyage was completed and two days before his employment contract expired and the boat would leave port again. Article 12 of the collective bargaining agreement said that a signed off seafarer who lands in any port as a result of injury or sickness will continue to receive his wages until he has been repatriated at company expense. The seafarer will then be paid in advance for the anticipated number of days certified by a doctor that he is expected to be sick or injured.
The appeals court then went on to say:
"To find that the company owed [Espinal] any further obligations would contradict both contract law as embodied in the [collective bargaining agreement] and this circuit's interpretation of general maritime law."
As a result, the appeals court upheld the district court's ruling in favor of RCC.
Source: Espinal v. Royal Caribbean Cruises, Ltd., 2001 U.S. App. LEXIS 11908
(United States Court Of Appeals For The Eleventh Circuit) (June 8, 2001)
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This information was provided by Stephen Gibson, president, Ornel,Inc., www.hrlawindex.com, www.courtcases.net.