{"id":82828,"date":"2024-07-02T09:02:00","date_gmt":"2024-07-02T09:02:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/uncategorized\/2024\/07\/02\/mariner-alleging-rape-on-sealift-ship-must-apply-for-workers-comp\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T20:04:53","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T20:04:53","slug":"mariner-alleging-rape-on-sealift-ship-must-apply-for-workers-comp","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/news\/your-navy\/2024\/07\/02\/mariner-alleging-rape-on-sealift-ship-must-apply-for-workers-comp\/","title":{"rendered":"Mariner alleging rape on sealift ship must apply for worker\u2019s comp"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Seven months after suing the United States for damages, a civilian engineer who says she was raped in her cabin by the civilian skipper of the Navy expeditionary fast transport Carson City<\/a> in 2021 has been told she must instead petition the Department of Labor for worker\u2019s compensation to resolve the matter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Attorneys for the engineer, Elsie Dominguez, maintain that the case deserves a court remedy, saying rape always falls outside the scope of employee duties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dominguez\u2019s lawsuit, filed in November, seeks back pay and compensatory damages in connection with her alleged rape.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a June 4 ruling, Judge Edward S. Kiel granted a motion by the government to stay the case, citing a 1952 Supreme Court decision holding that the Federal Employees Compensation Act (FECA) program, which offers payouts to government workers for job-related injuries and illnesses, is the proper avenue for the case.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The government motion argued that the only option for relief available to civilian mariners on government ships was via a FECA claim with the Department of Labor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dominguez\u2019s attorneys objected to the government\u2019s motion and called the idea that rape was a job-related risk \u201coffensive\u201d and \u201cinconceivable.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\t