Goucester Daily Times
Tuesday August 14, 1984
By Kevin Sullivan
An insurance company probably avoided a $10 million lawsuit yesterday by deciding to allow Rosario Grillo to skipper the St. Peter III. Lawyer Joseph Orlando said yesterday he was going to sue the company later this week for violating Grillo’s civil rights, slander and causing the fisherman “emotional distress.”
Last week, Orlando said, the insurance company reportedly told Grillo it would not insure the boat if he skippered because he had been the skipper of the Madonna Della Catena, which sank in June.
But late yesterday, Orlando said he had discussed the matter with Lynn insurance agent Charles Turner, who handles the St. Peter III’s insurance. Turner told him the insurance company had changed its mind and would allow Grillo to skipper the St. Peter III.
Orlando did not know the name of the insurance underwriter; he dealt with Turner, the agent, who would not supply the name of the company. Orlando said Turner told him the company did not want to be embarrassed publicly by changing its stand.
“They backed off from their position,” said Orlando, who specializes in marine law. “They clearly understood they were in an exposed position.” Grillo this morning said Turner called him yesterday to say he could return to work.
“He said he didn’t know I was fishing for the past 32 years, and all that baloney,” Grillo said. “I told him all that last week. They must have gotten scared, they turned their story around.”
Grillo, 49, of 17 Granite Street, said he would go fishing tonight or tomorrow for the first time in almost two weeks. Grillo is the temporary skipper of the St. Peter III. Owners Pasquale Guardino and Antonio Sutera went to Italy and asked Grillo to take over while they were gone.
Turner could not be reached for comment this morning. Boston lawyer John Maiona, who represents the boatowners, this morning said he supplied Turner with a brief history of Grillo’s fishing experience. The insurance company apparently was satisfied that Grillo was competent, he said.
“They just wanted to know beforehand who was going to captain the ship,” said Maiona, who also dealt only with Turner. He also did not know the name of the insurance underwriter.
Orlando said his suit would have alleged that the insurance company had illegally “blackballed” Grillo, preventing him from earning his living.
“This is not a new tactic for insurance companies,” Orlando said. “They have been waving the flag of abuse and mistreatment, and that’s all they do, is abuse and mistreat people.
“They simply have no legal or moral right to do to this man what they’re doing,” he sdaid yesterday, before conferring with Turner. “They violated his civil rights, they slandered his name as a fishing captain, and they caused him emotional distress.”
Marine insurance, unlike auto insurance, is not regulated by state law. Policies are strictly contracts between boatowner and the insurance company; the company is under no legal obligation to insure anyone they choose not to insure. But historically, the courts have ruled in against insurance companies that try to charge higher rates – or cut off – fishermen they deem bad risks.
In 1978, a federal district court judge rules against marine insurer Ernest Enos, who had been charging higher rates for fishermen who had filed clames in the past.
