Royal Caribbean Hit With Overtime Class Action

On March 25, 2010, a former cook filed a class action against Royal Caribbean and several related entities alleging that the cruise line failed to pay ship workers overtime wages and also made unlawful deductions from their tips.  The suit was filed in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida.

The allegations against Royal Caribbean are familiar.  The plaintiff, Glen Roy Ellis, contends that Royal Caribbean failed to pay he and other workers (cooks, waiters and servers) overtime wages even though they regularly worked in excess of 14 hours per day.  The suit also alleges that Royal Caribbean made unlawful deductions from workers’ tips, although the lawsuit offers few specifics and it is not immediately clear that all class members would even be entitled to tips.  (Cooks, for example, are not typically considered tipped employees.)

What is unusual about the lawsuit is the statute it seeks to enforce.  The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) typically governs unpaid overtime claims.  But the FLSA specifically exempts seaman on foreign vessels from its minimum wage, equal pay and overtime provisions. 

Mr. Ellis therefore has brought his claim under the Seaman’s Wage Act, 46 U.S.C. § 10313, et seq.  That statute requires vessel owners to pay seaman their wages within a certain number of days of the completion of a voyage (usually four) at risk of statutory penalties for non-compliance. 

The Seaman’s Wage Act does not, however, compel foreign vessels to pay overtime wages.  Generally, overtime is due only if a seaman’s employment contract expressly or impliedly calls for it.

Mr. Ellis’s complaint does not specify whether the ships on which he worked were foreign or American vessels (although the absence of any FLSA claims suggests the former).  It also does not identify the basis for Mr. Ellis’s overtime claim.  Thus, the foundation for the overtime claim remains unclear–an issue Royal Caribbean’s attorneys will no doubt explore as the lawsuit progresses.