The USNS Carson City, an expeditionary fast transport ship, in 2016. (Haley Nace/U.S. Navy)
The U.S. government has asked a New Jersey federal court to pause a lawsuit that alleges the Navy’s negligence led to a civilian engineer’s rape aboard a transport ship so the woman can instead file a claim for a work-related injury with the Labor Department, according to court documents.
The arguments “demonstrate a shocking lack of concern for the circumstances” in which Elsie Dominguez claims she was raped by the captain of the Navy transport ship on which she worked, said Christine Dunn, an attorney representing Dominguez in the lawsuit filed in November.
Dominguez, a 2014 graduate of the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy, was working as the first assistant engineer aboard the USNS Carson City, an expeditionary fast transport vessel, in December 2021 when she said the ship’s captain used a master key code to access her private room overnight and rape her in her bed. The Navy failed to care for and protect her when she reported the attack the next morning using the proper reporting procedures, according to the suit.
The Navy also failed to have appropriate security measures in place to prevent the assault from occurring, according to the suit, which does not name the civilian captain. The ship, part of the Navy’s Military Sealift Command, lacked oversight of the captain’s use of a master key code that gave him complete access to the vessel, as well as working security cameras and complete logs of crew members coming and going from the ship.
The Labor Department manages claims under the Federal Employees’ Compensation Act, the federal law that pays medical expenses and compensation benefits to workers for injuries obtained while performing their duties.
Elsie Dominguez filed a lawsuit against the United States alleging the Navy failed to protect her from sexual assault while she worked as an engineer aboard transport vessel in the service’s Military Sealift Command. (Photo provided by Sanford Heisler Sharp LLP)
In court documents, attorneys for the Justice Department argued Dominguez was aboard the ship because her job required it, and that makes it a worker’s compensation issue.
“The ship was deployed, and as a practical matter she had no other place to live. The alleged assault occurred in her stateroom, a government premises. On these facts, a substantial likelihood of [worker’s compensation] coverage exists,” according to the document.
“She was living on that ship for years, and it really can’t be the case that absolutely everything that happens to her on that ship would be worker’s comp. That doesn’t make sense — certainly not for something like being raped in her sleep in her bed,” Dunn said.
If the court were to agree with the government, Dominguez would be able to return to the lawsuit if the Labor Department denied the claim, according to court documents. If the court disagrees, the case will continue forward. The court is expected to rule on the government’s motion March 18.
The Naval Criminal Investigative Service has an ongoing investigation into the allegations, according to court documents.
The Navy’s Military Sealift Command operates 130 civilian-crewed ships that replenish Navy ships, conduct special missions and strategically move and preposition cargo at sea around the world, Tom Van Leunen, command spokesman, said last year. At that time, the workforce was comprised of 5,547 civilian mariners working aboard ships, 1,434 civilians in shore jobs, 347 active-duty service members and 956 reservists.
The Carson City, the ship on which Dominguez worked, is a catamaran with a flight deck for helicopter operations and a loading ramp to enable vehicles to drive on and off the ship quickly.
On the night that Dominguez said she was raped, she believes someone drugged her while at a bar in Brindisi, Italy, where the ship was docked. After one beer and one shot, she felt overly intoxicated and required two people to bring her back on the ship to her room, where she was left alone and unconscious, according to court documents. During the night, the captain of the ship entered her room using a master key code and raped her, she claims.
She attempted to report the assault the next day but was given false information that discouraged her from making the report, according to court documents.
After the assault, Dominguez still lived in the room where the rape occurred for nearly two years, though she was able to have a deadbolt lock installed on the door. She filed a criminal report in June and took leave in October, her attorney said.
