Maersk Line Ltd., the U.S.-flag arm of Danish shipping giant Maersk, has agreed as part of a settlement with the Department of Labor to change its safety reporting policies and compensate a whistleblower who reported safety concerns to the U.S. Coast Guard without first notifying the company.
The action stems from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s finding last year that Maersk Line Ltd., which provides maritime transport for U.S. government agencies, violated the crew member’s rights under the Seaman’s Protection Act by retaliating against the employee. The agency also determined the policy forbidding employees from contacting government agencies without first notifying the company violated federal law.
OSHA launched an investigation after the seaman alerted the Coast Guard about safety concerns aboard the Safmarine Mafadi, a 50,000-ton, 958-foot containership, in December 2020. Safmarine was formerly a Maersk subsidiary. Alleged safety issues included lifeboat equipment in need of repair and replacement, crew members on board in possession of, and possibly consuming, alcohol, and improper supervision of cadet seamen, as well as the emergency fire pump not working and a bilge system not preventing cargo holds from flooding.
“The Department of Labor will enforce workers’ protected rights as whistleblowers under federal law,” said Solicitor of Labor Seema Nanda in a news release issued on Thursday. “No employer may violate whistleblower regulations or create policies that require employees to notify their employer before they report concerns to federal regulatory agencies. 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 the Safmarine Mafadi.”
Maersk Line Ltd. challenged the findings of the whistleblower investigation but eventually agreed to a settlement after a hearing last month.
MLL’s policy has been part of its safety management system since 2017 and was never challenged by the Coast Guard during annual reviews, the company said in a statement to FreightWaves.
“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 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 read.
“Similarly, the Coast Guard report [about] the whistleblower’s allegations identified no evidence that the vessel/crew was not taking appropriate actions to address any safety or equipment concerns. Also, it 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. MLL is proud of its safety culture and its highest priority remains the safety and security of our mariners and shoreside colleagues,” the company said.
In a July 14, 2023, letter to MLL, the Labor Department said it had “reasonable” cause to believe that the chief mate’s complaints to the Coast Guard were contributing factors in his firing and that the company “has not shown by clear and convincing evidence that it would have taken the same action in the absence of complainant’s protected activities.”
Under the settlement, Maersk will remove any requirement that workers notify the company before contacting the Coast Guard, refrain from retaliation against seamen who contact the Coast Guard, provide all supervisors with training on the revised policy and distribute an OSHA fact sheet on labor protections on its U.S.-flagged vessels for the next two years.
Maersk also agreed to future compliance with all applicable regulations and to compensate the terminated seaman for lost wages and damages. A preliminary order a year ago put those compensatory and punitive damages at more than $400,000. Under the terms of the settlement, Maersk did not admit to violations of the Seaman’s Protection Act.
Maersk Line previously settled with the seaman to resolve his personal complaint against the company.
Headquartered in Norfolk, Virginia, Maersk Line Ltd, operates the largest U.S.-flag fleet in commercial service and employs about 700 U.S. mariners.
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