Alaska Employment Law

Pleadings include other whistleblower awards in the District of Alaska

The Anchorage Daily News recently published an article about a fine and penalties levied against a Conoco Phillips tanker company, Polar Tankers, Inc.  Polar terminated both the Captain and the Chief Mate.  In the criminal case, the government recommended a whistleblower crewman receive $250,000 from the $500,000 fine assessed against Polar.

The tanker company pled guilty before Judge Russel Holland to failure to maintain an oil record book. The facts indicate there was an oil spill, but the Captain and Chief Engineer tried to hide it by failing to document the spill in the ship’s logbooks.  Rather than record that the vessel slowed and turned so the oil could be cleaned from the side of the ship, the Captain recorded that the ship had performed a man-overboard drill.

Pursuant to the Act to Prevent Pollution from Ships (“APPS”), 33 U.S.C. § 1901, et seq., AUSA Karen Loeffler moved the court for an award of $250,000 to James Legg, a crewman. The purpose of APPS is to implement an international treaty known as MARPOL Protocol, which sets out standards to protect marine environment.  AAPA provides, in part:

In the discretion of the Court, an amount equal to not more than 1/2 of such fine may be paid to the person giving information leading to conviction. 

33 USC § 1908(a).  The court granted the government’s motion.

According to the government, Mr. Legg provided important information at the earliest stage of the investigation that significantly contributed to the conviction of the Defendant.  The award is consistent with the statutory purpose of APPS to encourage those with information to come forward and disclose to authorities.

Legg, who lives in Olympia, Washington, and holds a Third Engineers license, was the Engineman on the T/V Polar Discovery. He called the Coast Guard Marine Safety Office in Valdez and reported the spill, how it occurred, as well as the transfer process that led to the spill. He also sent a video he had taken showing the crew cleaning oil from the side of the ship.

The government claimed the discharge would have been impossible to detect, and the violation would not have become known to the government, without Legg’s information. Further, Legg remained in contact with government investigators throughout the investigation of the case. Therefore, the government opined it would be appropriate to consider Legg for an award of $250,000 associated with the criminal fine imposed in the case. The total fine and other penalties is $2.5 million.

The government’s motion also recounts the history of awards under Section 1908(a), included two in the Alaska District, one against Boyang, Ltd., where a crewman was awarded one-half of the $350,000 criminal fine, and one against Holland America, Inc., where a crew member received one-half of the $1 million criminal fine.

U. S. v. Polar Tankers, Inc., Case No. 3:07-cr-00124 HRH(D.Alaska)

Karen Loeffler represented the United States.  Bob Bundy of Dorsey & Whitney, Anchorage, and George Terwilliger of White & Case, Washington, D.C., represented Polar Tankers, Inc.

Motion for Award; Order