Seymore

MEMORANDUM OF OPINION AND ORDER

On September 25, 1992, plaintiff Andrew Seymore was terminated from his employment as a captain with defendant Lake Tahoe Cruises Inc. after he refused defendant Joseph Thiemann’s 1 order to take the Tahoe Queen, a 500 passenger vessel, on its morning cruise. Seymore brings this action for wrongful termination under 46 U.S.C. § 2114 (a), 2 federal maritime law, and state law. Seymore claims that he refused Thiemann’s order because the Tahoe Queen was in an unsafe condition and because to take the vessel out would have violated a Coast Guard order. Defendants now move for partial summary judgment. The motion is granted in part and denied in part.

I

In 1988, Lake Tahoe Cruises, Inc. hired plaintiff Seymore, who holds a captain’s license from the Coast Guard, to serve as one of the captains of the Tahoe Queen. 3 By *1032 1990 Seymore was promoted to “Operations Director.” His duties included supervising the other captains as well as supervising the maintenance of the Tahoe Queen and the other equipment owned by Lake Tahoe Cruises. Although Seymore was subsequently replaced as Operations Director, he retained supervisory authority over the other…