NCL Sued by USA

[AFT_LOVER]

NEW YORK/LONDON, Aug 25 (Reuters) - Miami-based Norwegian Cruise Line Inc. is being sued by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) for racial discrimination in a workplace, an EEOC official said on Friday.

 

EEOC filed a lawsuit on Tuesday against the cruise line (NCL) in a Honolulu federal court representing seven or more Muslim employees of Middle Eastern descent who had worked aboard the Pride of Aloha in July 2004. Anna Park, an attorney at EEOC in Los Angeles, said the workers were fired because they were deemed a security risk.

 

 

 

She said the EEOC had investigated the matter in the past two years, and the suit was filed because it could not reach a resolution with NCL.

EEOC is the plaintiff in the case representing the seven people, but more ex-employees may come forward, Park said.

 

"We are in the discovery phase of the law suit right now. NCL has not been served the papers yet," she said.

 

NCL is a wholly owned subsidiary of Star Cruises Ltd. (0678.HK: Quote, Profile, Research) (SARC.SI: Quote, Profile, Research) SCL, publicly listed in Hong Kong, is a core member of the Genting Group (GENT.KL: Quote, Profile, Research) and 36.1 percent owned by Resorts World, which is, in turn, 57.7 percent owned by Genting Berhad.

Susan Robison, a spokeswoman for NCL, said in an e-mailed statement on Friday that the cruise company was proud of its employment practices and record, and that it did not discriminate in hiring.

[Lightsluvr]

NCLA - welcome to U.S. laws, rules and regulations... They probably regret ever cutting the "sweetheart" deal to have American flagged vessels...

 

Next thing, the crew will probably vote for a Union. Your Coco Loco will be served up by a Longshoreman!

 

LL

[Nitra]

Actually NCL America is union. My hubby works on Pride of Hawaii and was on Pride of America. He is Muslim so this is so bogus. Anyway they are part of the Merchant Marine Union, it is mandatory. Prior to going to work on the ship they must go to Maryland for certification and get their MMD card, then union dues are taken out automatically from their pay. They had to sign a paper stating they were aware the union is mandatory as part of the employment. They must also all be US green card holders or citizens to work on the NCL America flagged ships.

 

NCL America operates differently than the International flagged ships. He used to work on RCL, so we know from both how they operate. He is paid a pretty good hourly pay and then gets OT for anything over 40 hrs a week, which is every week, some weeks he puts in 80 hrs and has done more when he is working triples every day.

 

They are very strict, they must pass random drug testing and he said on POA they have been firing the crew for getting drunk the night before a shift, they have a real problem with people not showing up for work or for being late or being hung over on the job.

[Lightsluvr]

That's interesting information - and not surprising...

 

Best wishes.

 

LL

[isujim]

That is very interesting information.........thanks for explaining how that works.

[happy cruzer]

I find it odd that the first law suit that I read concerning the cruise industry and security risks is not the cruiseline being sued for being too lax but for being too strick. I know that is a simplification but it does seem to be another example of how we seem to have lost sight we are at war. This should be interesting.

 

And I also thank Nitra for educating us on some of the details. I know she wants her hubby to be safe at work as well as the cruisers do.

[Nitra]

There is more to this story than we are seeing Im sure but like most cases involving the cruiselines, they will pay them off to keep things quiet.

[rubrrick]

Thanks for the quick education. I bet the lawsuit does not get far.

 

Rick

[smeyer418]

The EEOC rarely files lawsuits like this. They first do an investigation and either find probable cause or dismiss the case so the people can sue themselves. It is also strange that they say they are doing discovery after filing the lawsuit since they do the investigation before deciding to sue. Most of the time if they find probable cause the company tries to settle. NCL must feel they have a good case or they would probably settle. Remember a complaint just gives the EEOC's side of this.

This doesn't mean that the EEOC isn't right now and then.

[arabrab]

The EEOC rarely files lawsuits like this. They first do an investigation and either find probable cause or dismiss the case so the people can sue themselves. It is also strange that they say they are doing discovery after filing the lawsuit since they do the investigation before deciding to sue. Most of the time if they find probable cause the company tries to settle. NCL must feel they have a good case or they would probably settle. Remember a complaint just gives the EEOC's side of this.

This doesn't mean that the EEOC isn't right now and then.

 

Well, the EEOC files very few lawsuits relative to the number of complaints it receives. It also usually attempts settlement first. But some companies fight any settlement to the death -- and perhaps NCL is one of them.

 

And as for the poster that insisted that the complaint couldn't be true because her husband was Muslim and worked on the ships, why would you think that the complaint necessarily referred to the way ALL Muslims were treated? I worked for a university and never was sexually harassed, but there certainly were other women at that same university who were. Using my experience to declare that it couldn't have happened is ridiculous.

 

The NCL complaint is likely to be related to a specific department or perhaps even specific supervisors within a department.

 

Not sure why anyone wouldn't want to wait and see how it unfolds before deciding that it couldn't be true.

[RoofingPrincess]

I'm confused. What does a suit against NCL have to do with Royal Caribbean? This is the Royal Caribbean board....

[crusinmama06]

I'm confused. What does a suit against NCL have to do with Royal Caribbean? This is the Royal Caribbean board....

 

Yeah but I think that all cruising news is interesting to us RCCL people. Especially those of us who have sailed NCL and RCCL. :)

[jad7984]

I'm confused. What does a suit against NCL have to do with Royal Caribbean? This is the Royal Caribbean board....

 

I'm sure there are a number of people who only stay on the RCCL board and rarely venture to NCL. Those people would probably like to hear what's going on as well.

 

I don't understand why people discuss the validity of the threads on these boards, then proceed to post and make it known that they disapprove. Skip over it if you don't like it. The very fact that it's generating responses shows that people are interested.

[Nliedel]

This is going to be interesting to watch.

[TheWog]

Maybe they actually were a security risk? And how do you file a law suit yet not serve the party being sued? I'm a bit confused. :confused:

[jad7984]

Maybe they actually were a security risk? And how do you file a law suit yet not serve the party being sued? I'm a bit confused. :confused:

 

I agree. Poor wording on the media's part. They aren't actually being sued until the papers have been served.

 

 

 

Just want to give a friendly New England wave! (Sorry, I had to) ;)

[Nitra]

I'm confused. What does a suit against NCL have to do with Royal Caribbean? This is the Royal Caribbean board....

 

Since my hubby used to work for RCCL and now is on NCL, I am glad it was here. I seldom go to the NCL boards so would have missed it if it was over there.

[negc]

If the cruiselines are paying off anyone to keep bad things out of the news they should be seeking a refund, because they don't seem to be very successful, just ask the executives at RCI, Princess, NCL, Carnival etc. They have all had more than their share of unfavorable attention in recent months and years.:rolleyes:

[jad7984]

If the cruiselines are paying off anyone to keep bad things out of the news they should be seeking a refund, because they don't seem to be very successful, just ask the executives at RCI, Princess, NCL, Carnival etc. They have all had more than their share of unfavorable attention in recent months and years.:rolleyes:

 

I'm sure that's just what it is. They haven't been successful at it. That's most of the reason why they do settle, IMHO, is to keep things quiet and to keep everyone happy so it doesn't blow up and turn into a playground for the media. If they didn't care about their image, no cruise line--or any large corporation for that matter--would ever settle.

[TheWog]

I agree. Poor wording on the media's part. They aren't actually being sued until the papers have been served.

 

 

 

Just want to give a friendly New England wave! (Sorry, I had to) ;)

 

Yeah, thanks for that. Right back atcha! :D There's still hope. :)

[smeyer418]

technically in Federal Court you start a lawsuit by filing summons and complaint in the Court and buying an index number. That is when the clock for statute of limitations purposes stops as long as you serve the papers as provided by the court rules. Most of the time you can mail them or you can get an order to serve them by mail. You then have a certain number of days to "serve" the lawsuit(generally within 60 days). By the lawsuit is begun by the filing with the court. If it is not served within the time limits or served improperly it can be dismissed and you will have to purchase a new index number and the clock starts again....