Trident Seafoods is in the midst of defending itself in a courtroom from claims made by a former employee alleging he was fired for having only three fingers on one hand.
The is scheduled for September 2023 in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington.
The plaintiff in the case, Jim Fox, was hired in July 2021 by Trident as the chief engineer for its “Dominator” fishing vessel. According to his complaint, filed in May 2022, though Fox had previously lost three fingers on his right hand in an accident, the disability did not interfere with the ability to perform his job as chief engineer. In fact, Fox had around 25 years of experience working as a chief engineer on fishing vessels similar to the Dominator.
Before he was hired, Trident required Fox to take a physical exam, which he “easily passed.” The exam paperwork noted that he had three missing fingers, according to Fox’s complaint.
After he was on the Dominator for around six days, the ship’s captain, Craig Jenssen, told Fox that no one had told him that he did not have all of his fingers and the condition made him “really uncomfortable,” according to the complaint.
Jenssen was concerned that plaintiff would be unable to perform tasks, such as tying the zipper on the fishing net or changing a hydraulic hose on the crane. Fox offered to perform the tasks on the spot, but Jenssen refused to let him try.
Jenssen then said he was firing Fox. Another crew member later told Fox that Jenssen said to him, “there’s no way I can look at that hand across the galley table all season.”
“At all relevant times, plaintiff was able to perform the essential functions of his job. Defendant discriminated against plaintiff by terminating him on the basis of his disability,” the complaint said.
Fox said the damages in the American Disabilities Act complaint total more than USD 75,000 (EUR 75,000).
Trident did not respond to SeafoodSource’s requests for comment on the case.
Photo courtesy of Trident Seafoods
