U.S. Navy’s Military Sealift Command Captain Sexual Assault Lawsuit (Dominguez vs. United States)
Case Title: Elsie E. Dominguez vs. United States of America
Case Type: Sexual Assault, Sexual Violence, Sexual Harassment, Maritime Sexual Assault, Military Sexual Assault, Military Sexual Trauma
Filed in: U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey
Docket #: Case No.: 3:23-cv-22724
Attorneys Involved: J. Ryan Melogy (Contact)
Case Summary:
The Complaint alleges that Elsie Dominguez, a civilian mariner and a graduate of the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy, was serving as 1st Assistant Engineer aboard the USNS Carson City when she was raped by the Captain of the vessel, which was owned and operated by the U.S. Navy’s Military Sealift Command (“MSC”).
The complaint alleges that Ms. Dominguez left the USNS Carson City while off duty on the evening of December 18, 2021, and that, while she was ashore, someone slipped a drug into her drink, causing her to black out. The complaint further alleges that Ms. Dominguez was so incapacitated from the drug that she had to be carried back onto the ship by fellow crew members and taken to her stateroom. The complaint also alleges that Ms. Dominguez awoke in the early morning of December 19, 2021, to find the Captain of the ship raping her as she lay in her bed unconscious.
According to the complaint, the Captain gained entry to Ms. Dominguez’s room, while she was unconscious by using his master key. The complaint alleges that the United States was negligent in allowing the Captain unrestricted access to her room, without adequate safeguards in place. Following the assault, Ms. Dominguez felt so unsafe that she requested a deadbolt lock be installed on the inside of her stateroom door. The complaint further alleges that the cameras in the passageways leading to Ms. Dominguez’s room, which could have deterred the Captain from entering her stateroom that night, had been broken for over a year at the time of the sexual assault and the United States was negligent in not repairing them.
After the rape, when Ms. Dominguez sought help from her superiors and the MSC Sexual Assault Prevention and Response helpline, she alleges that she was discouraged from reporting, dissuaded from seeking medical testing, denied access to confidential reporting, and had her job threatened. The complaint also alleges that the United States was negligent in failing to have adequate sexual assault prevention training and reporting systems on the ship.
The lawsuit, which was filed in U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey under the Suits in Admiralty Act and the Public Vessels Act, alleges that the United States was negligent under the Jones Act and failed to furnish a seaworthy vessel to Ms. Dominguez under general maritime law.
The Complaint alleges that the United States, through its agents in the U.S. Navy and MSC, failed to protect Ms. Dominguez from sexual assault by the master of the USNS Carson City; failed to provide safe working conditions aboard the vessel, in accordance with the Navy’s own stated rules for its ships; and failed to maintain an adequate system for reporting sexual assault.
Ms. Dominguez’s attorney Ryan Melogy said of the assault, “Ms. Dominguez and other civilian mariners who live aboard U.S. government vessels should not have to live in fear. The United States owes a duty to protect crewmembers aboard its vessels, and it is failing to live up to that duty. Elsie is courageously coming forward, at great personal and professional risk to herself, to protect others from similarly traumatic experiences.”
Procedural History:
March 5, 2023: Maritime Legal Solutions, PLLC and Sanford Heisler Sharp file Memorandum of Law in Opposition to United States’ Motion to Stay Proceedings
November 29, 2023: Complaint filed by Maritime Legal Solutions, PLLC and Sanford Heisler Sharp
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