United States Seventh Circuit
Robinson v. Alter Barge Line, Inc., 07-1647
In a suit over the defendant's termination of the plaintiff's employment on a barge after plaintiff reported that other crew members were using illegal drugs while on duty, summary judgment for defendant is affirmed in part, reversed in part and remanded where: 1) plaintiff's report did not meet the requirements for protection under the Illinois Whistleblower Act; 2) the report did not fall under the Seaman's Protection Act since there was no indication that plaintiff intended to report the crew member activities to a federal agency or department; 3) admiralty law did not preempt plaintiff's claim under Illinois' common law tort of retaliatory discharge; and 4) the plaintiff forfeited his claim that the defendant committed a judge-made admiralty tort by firing him for raising safety concerns.
Appellate Information
- Argued 12/07/2007
- Decided 01/16/2008
- Published 01/16/2008
Judges
- POSNER, Circuit Judge., Before POSNER, ROVNER, and WILLIAMS, Circuit Judges.
Court
- United States Seventh Circuit
Counsel
- For Appellant:
- Lee W. Barron (argued), Alton, IL, for Plaintiff-Appellant.
- For Appellees:
- Neal W. Settergren, John R. Halpern (argued), Goldstein & Price, St. Louis, MO, for Defendant-Appellee.