JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — A federal sex trafficking and forced labor lawsuit filed by a former employee against Jacksonville-based shipping giant Crowley Maritime will move forward, according to a federal court judge's ruling.
In a 41-page order issued Jan. 5, 2023, Judge Marcia Morales Howard of the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida denied a motion by Crowley to dismiss an amended complaint.
Crowley is one of the largest contractors of transportation services to the U.S. Department of Defense and employs more than 7,000 employees.
According to court documents, the plaintiff claims she was 21 years old when she was hired by Crowley as a credit and collections coordinator in Crowley’s San Salvador office and that she was paid less than $10,000 per year. She says that in 2017 she was sexually assaulted inside an elevator at the Crowley offices by a supervisor.
Her complaint alleges Crowley moved the supervisor to a new department instead of firing him.
In its motion to dismiss, Crowley says the company "is committed to the safety and welfare of its people and diligently strives to ensure a safe and respectful work environment for all. In her lawsuit, the Plaintiff presents a troubling set of allegations that have been taken with utmost seriousness. Notwithstanding, Crowley vigorously denies the allegations ..."
According to the complaint, the employee reported the sexual assault to Crowley human resources officials. However, she claims she was threatened to stay silent and still required to travel to Jacksonville on an business trip with the supervisor.
She says Crowley threatened to provide negative feedback about her to any future employer if she quit over her refusal to go on the business trip, calling the deal a “a twisted forced bargain.”
The complaint alleges that on that trip, in November 2017, her supervisor gained access to her hotel room by fraudulently obtaining a key card to her room from the front desk, attacked her in her bed while she was sleeping, and raped her.
The complaint alleges that the next morning she went directly to Crowley’s Jacksonville headquarters and reported the rape to senior Crowley employees. However, according to her complaint, she was told to “shut up” about the rape if she wanted to keep her job.
Her complaint alleges that not long she was raped, she contacted Crowley’s Vice President of Ethics and Compliance to again report the rape. According to the complaint, approximately two weeks later, the official told her that Crowley had decided to fire her alleged rapist and at least two other Crowley employees involved in forcing her to travel with her supervisor.
The complaint asserts the official instructed her not to file a complaint with any Crowley human resources department and told her that if the story of her alleged rape became public, Crowley’s reputation would be severely damaged.
In November 2020, the plaintiff says she began receiving mental health treatment for severe trauma. She alleges that in January 2021, shortly after she began receiving help, Crowley learned she was talking to a psychologist about the rape and then decided to fire her under the pretense of poor work performance.
Her complaint alleges that on January 14, 2021, while terminating her, an attorney for Crowley offered her $600 in exchange for signing a settlement and confidentiality agreement. The complaint alleges that after she refused to sign the agreement, Crowley fired her and then withheld her final paycheck.
The plaintiff filed her complaint against Crowley on Feb. 15, 2023, and then filed her Amended Complaint on March 30, 2022.
- You can read the original complaint here.
- You can read the amended complaint here.
In Crowley's motion to dismiss, the company said that the claim for infliction of emotional distress must meet the "outrageous conduct" requirement and failed to do so. Crowley says that the alleged withholding of the plaintiff's paycheck, alleged coercion of the plaintiff to stay silent and the alleged threats regarding her termination "do not rise to the level of being 'outrageous behavior.'"
Crowley said that the plaintiff also fails to allege that Crowley had sufficient knowledge of the alleged sex trafficking for direct liability, meaning that there is no way to prove that the company could have known the intentions of the alleged suspect before the incident happened.
In a statement to First Coast News, Crowley wrote:
At Crowley, we are committed to the safety and welfare of our people and to creating a safe and respectful work environment.
We have zero-tolerance for sexual misconduct of any kind. Along with our code of conduct and policies and procedures around sexual assault, harassment, and retaliation, we provide regular employee online and in-person trainings to educate and protect our workforce and to reinforce our commitment to a safe and respectful workplace.
While we take allegations of sexual assault seriously and especially the disturbing ones in this case, we will vigorously defend ourselves against the lawsuit asserting that Crowley engaged in sex and labor trafficking as false and without merit.