JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — A second woman has filed a sex trafficking lawsuit in federal court against her former employer, Crowley Maritime Corporation.
This comes after another federal sex trafficking and forced labor lawsuit was previously filed by a former employee against the Jacksonville-based shipping giant.
The client in the latest lawsuit filed under the name 'Jane Doe.' Her legal team says it follows a closely-related and still-ongoing sex trafficking and forced labor lawsuit filed against Crowley by former employee Vanessa Treminio.
Jane Doe and Vanessa Treminio are both represented by Ryan Melogy of Maritime Legal Solutions (MLS), PLLC and Adria Notari of Notari Law P.A.
MLS says on Jan. 5, 2023, federal Judge Marcia Morales Howard issued a 41 page order denying Crowley’s motion to dismiss Treminio’s sex trafficking and forced labor lawsuit, which is now set to go to trial in February 2024.
The legal team say both lawsuits allege "terrifyingly similar fact patterns" in which the women were transported by Crowley on international business trips from El Salvador to Jacksonville, where they were then "isolated and sexually abused by the same Crowley supervisor."
Both lawsuits allege that Crowley knew, or should have known, the manager would sexually attack the women on the trips, and both allege Crowley is civilly liable for violations of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act (TVPA).
The lawsuit says Doe, who speaks fluent English, was 30 years old when she was hired by Crowley as an Inland Department “onboarding coordinator” in Crowley’s San Salvador office, where Crowley paid her a salary of less than $8,000 per year.
According to Doe’s lawsuit, during the week of Nov. 13 in 2017, the supervisor ordered her to accompany him on the next DFTS training trip to Jacksonville in January.
Doe’s lawsuit alleges that the prospect of accompanying the supervisor on an international business trip terrified her, and she alleges that before the trip she requested a meeting with Crowley’s HR Manager in San Salvador. According to her complaint, during the meeting, Doe told the HR Manager that she did not want to go on the trip with the supervisor because she did not ever feel safe around him. In her lawsuit, Doe alleges the HR Manager told her that she could either go on the trip with the supervisor, or find a new job.
According to the lawsuit, on the night of Jan. 12, 2018 in Jacksonville, Doe was attacked by the supervisor, who pinned her against a wall and then proceeded to repeatedly grope and fondle her as she begged him to stop.
Upon her return to El Salvador, Doe filed a formal ethics report via Crowley’s EthicsPoint online reporting platform.
MLS says the supervisor was fired after nearly eight years at Crowley, on Jan. 24, 2018.
Crowley gave this statement to First Coast News:
“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 against 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 including the disturbing ones in this case, we will vigorously defend ourselves against this lawsuit asserting that Crowley engaged in sex trafficking as false and without merit.”
If you have information about Crowley cases, or have your own potential legal claims and are seeking counsel, you can email Help@JusticeForMariners.com.