Company also agrees to change internal policies for reporting safety concerns
Maersk Line Limited (MLL) will change internal safety reporting policies following an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor that found the shipping company violated federal law by firing a mariner who reported apparent safety concerns directly to the U.S. Coast Guard.
The Labor Department announced the settlement in late July following a three-day hearing in June brought by Maersk, which contested earlier findings by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) that the firing violated the Seaman’s Protection Act.
Maersk has agreed pay the unidentified mariner back wages and damages totaling more than $700,000. It also has changed its internal policies to permit reporting directly to authorities, such as the U.S. Coast Guard. The company did not admit wrongdoing.
“Federal law protects a seaman’s right to report safety concerns to federal regulatory agencies, a fact every maritime industry employer and vessel owner must know,” OSHA Regional Administrator Eric Harbin said in a statement “Failure to recognize these rights can instill a culture of intimidation that could lead to disastrous or deadly consequences. The order underscores our commitment to enforcing whistleblower rights that protect seamen.”
The matter stemmed from a December 2020 situation in which the mariner reported a host of apparent safety concerns aboard the 958-foot containership Safamarine Mafadi to the U.S. Coast Guard. According to federal authorities, the mariner alleged, among other things, lifeboat equipment needed repairs or replacement, insufficient supervision of a cadet, crewmembers possessing and possibly consuming alcohol and problems with a bilge system.
MLL policy at the time required crewmembers to report unsafe or hazardous situations to the company before alerting the Coast Guard. In a statement, the company said this policy had been in place since 2017 and was reviewed annually by the Coast Guard as part of its safety management system.
In a lengthy statement, the shipping company suggested the mariner concocted the safety allegations as a ruse intended to distract from an internal dispute with the ship’s captain.
“MLL stands by its decision to terminate the mariner, whose union took the termination to arbitration before a neutral third party. The arbitrator’s decision found that the mariner’s allegations to the Coast Guard were unsubstantiated, and were ‘neither reasonable nor in good faith,’” the company said in a statement.
“The arbitration decision concluded that ‘Grievant’s sole motivation in reporting to the Coast Guard was not safety but an effort to thwart [the captain] and the proposed disciplinary action. He tried to bootstrap himself into a whistleblower defense,’” the statement continued.
MLL also noted that a Coast Guard investigation into the mariner’s allegations “identified no evidence that the vessel/crew was not taking appropriate actions to address any safety or equipment concerns. It also discovered no evidence of violations of law or regulation.”
“MLL will continue to cooperate with the U.S. Government’s efforts to ensure its U.S. flag fleet remains the safest in the world, while providing our mariners with our full trust and support, particularly where our mariners are targeted with unsubstantiated or uncorroborated allegations,” the statement continued.
Under the Seaman’s Protection Act, mariners can report any concerns directly to the Coast Guard, regardless of company policies mandating an internal report first. Mariners cannot be punished or retaliated against for making whistleblower claims against their employers.
“No employer may violate whistleblower regulations or create policies that require employees to notify their employer before they report concerns to federal regulatory agencies,” Solicitor of Labor Seema Nanda said in a statement. “This seaman showed the kind of bravery for which mariners have long been known by raising concerns that, left unchecked, could have endangered everyone aboard Safmarine Mafadi.”
Under terms of the settlement, MLL will pay the mariner $457,759 in back pay, interest and compensatory damages. It also will pay $250,000 in punitive damages. MLL earlier agreed to reinstate the mariner, although it is not clear if the person has returned to sea for MLL or another operator. It also is unclear what position the mariner held aboard Safmarine Mafadi.
MLL is the largest subsidiary of A.P. Moeller-Maersk, the global shipping and logistics firm based in Denmark. Its U.S. subsidiary headquartered in Norfolk, Va., employs about 750 mariners aboard U.S.-flagged ships.
The former Safmarine Mafadi was built in 2007. It has been renamed Maersk Tennessee and operates on a route between the U.S. East Coast, Gulf of Mexico and Europe. •