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Eli Dunn v. Bryce Hatch, et al.

Paid petition · United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, No. 18-35485, 18-35511 · judgment November 21, 2019

Certiorari denied · October 5, 2020

Pre-decision estimate: 1% cert probability

Before the decision, well below the 4.1% base rate, with no standout signals pointing toward a grant.

Questions presented

Should punitive damages be available to commercial fishermen cheated on their wages?
Is there a conflict among federal courts of appeal, and within the Ninth Circuit itself, as to whether 46 U.S.C. § 11107 provides a penalty for the nonpayment of wages as opposed to a penalty rate of wages for the failure to have a written contract of employment?
Can state law wage penalties be applied to claims brought by commercial fishermen, despite 46 U.S.C. § 11107?
As a matter of public policy, should the Court when sitting in admiralty fashion a remedy where Congress is silent on wage protection for seamen, other than the statutory penalty for the failure to pay wages to merchant seamen on foreign voyages?

For petitioner
John Wheeler Merriam
Law Office of John Merriam

For respondent
Kim J. Trout
Trout Law

Conference history
Distributed for 1 conference

Oct 05 2020
Petition DENIED.
Jul 22 2020
DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 9/29/2020.
Jun 01 2020
Motion to extend the time to file a response is granted and the time is extended to and including June 29, 2020. See Rule 30.1.
May 22 2020
Motion to extend the time to file a response from May 27, 2020 to June 27, 2020, submitted to The Clerk.
Apr 07 2020
Petition for a writ of certiorari filed. (Response due May 27, 2020)