Legal advise for seafarer suing employer for failure to deploy because of medical condition

Let me see if I got the facts right: you are a seafarer and you have been working with the same crewing agency for 8 years. Last year, you were diagnosed with hypertension and diabetes and yet, you were classified as 'fit to work' so long as you took maintenance medication. This year, you already have a contract of employment and you were supposed to deploy on board a ship but the crewing agency refused to honor the doctor's recommendation that you were fit to work.

Your question is, whether you can sue the crewing agency for failing to deploy you?

My answer is: yes, you can sue for illegal dismissal because you have already been hired (as you said that you have already signed a contract of employment and your contract has already been processed by the POEA.

A contract of employment is binding once it has already been signed by the shipping company, the crewing agency and the seafarer. Of course, I have not seen your contract of employment. There may be a caveat there that the contract of employment will be considered binding only if you passed the physical examination. If there is no such caveat, then you are considered to have been hired.

You must also consider if hypertension and diabetes are conditions which prevent a seafarer from being hired -- is it a disability under your contract? Normally, hypertension and diabetes, when controlled by medication, cannot be considered a disability that prevents you from being considered as 'fit for work'.

If you find that in your previous contracts, hypertension and diabetes are not conditions that render you 'unfit for work' then the crewing agency should not have disregarded the doctor's recommendation.

I am assuming that the doctor who examined you is a doctor affiliated with the crewing agency. It was then their doctor who found you 'fit for work' -- and not your own personal doctor?

What happened is that by disregarding their own doctor's recommendation that you were fit for work, the crewing agency was actually terminating the binding contract of employment without just cause. This is a case of illegal dismissal. The crewing agency cannot claim that you are unfit for work if their doctor certified that you were fit for work. The crewing agency cannot claim that diabetes and hypertension are debilitating conditions that render you unfit for work if the previous year, they deployed you and allowed you to work as a seafarer even when they knew that you had those conditions. The act of the crewing agency was arbitrary and whimsical -- it was not based upon a fact and it was a breach of a valid contract of employment.

Under the law, when an OFW is dismissed without just cause, he is entitled to separation pay amounting to one month's salary for every year of the contract. Thus, if the contract is for two years, then you may get damages equivalent to two months' salary. If your contract is less than one year (I am assuming that a seafarer's contract is normally for 6-8 months only) then you will receive one month's salary.

In giving you this advice I relied upon the facts you described in your post and I have not seen any of the documents in your possession such as the contract of employment, medical certificate, any correspondences, etc. My advice is based on general principles of law and not based on an evaluation of any evidence you may have in your favor.

It will be better if you consulted with a lawyer who specializes in illegal dismissal of OFWs as this is a specialized branch of labor law. If you have documents in your possession, you may consult a lawyer and show him your documents and ask him to evaluate whether you have a cause of action against the crewing agency.

Good luck to you.

Paano po kung nakapirma na ako ng kontrata at pagdating ko po sa barko ay yung trabaho ko ay hindi akma sa pinirmahan ko na kontrata at hinling ko po na umuwi na lang may habol po kaya ako? Salamat and more power!