The Steel Trader

Background

Adams signed articles on November 29, 1921 to work as an oiler on the ship Steel Trader for $80 per month. While the voyage had begun, he was discharged at Port Arthur on December 12, 1921 without fault or consent. He collected earned wages and an extra $80 before a Shipping Commissioner. After the ship returned May 19, 1922, Adams sued to recover wages and subsistence for the period he was off the ship.

Reasoning

The Court interpreted the statute that says a seaman discharged before the commencement of the voyage or before one month’s wages are earned, without fault or consent, is entitled to a sum equal to one month’s wages as compensation and may recover it as if it were wages. The Justices held the law applies when discharge occurs either before the voyage starts or before a month’s wages have been earned. They also held that paying earned wages plus the one month’s compensation satisfies the employer’s liability for wrongful discharge. The Court treated the statute as remedial, not punitive, intended to give a simple, definite rule and a speedy way to collect the compensation.

Real world impact

This decision limits a seaman’s recovery in the covered circumstances to a fixed one month’s pay added to wages already earned. Shipowners who pay the earned wages and that one-month sum avoid further liability for breach of the hiring contract. The case was reversed and sent back to the lower court for proceedings consistent with this interpretation.