That case is not a marine action; i.e.spill, fire, etc. AMO only assists in those areas.
He (Merrone) is/was an AMO member.
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Good for AMO. Otherwise it would get messy & obvious conflict of interest if AMO was assisting 2 members who were going to court against one another. With Merroneâs previous conviction & dismissal it would make sense for him to have lots of insurance to pay his own legal defense.
Wow, I just now read the stories of the two cadets. I wasnât shipping or on gcaptain and was out of the loop. That is exactly why I never hung out with or drank with the crew, on the vessel or in the shipyard. The people at Edison Chouest Offshore tried to tell me I HAD to hang out with them. Guess what they were doingâŚtrying to get me to go out and drink with them! Then I was told I could not leave the trailer because of that! I was merely trying to protect my own interests and boundaries. If you are a woman and you work at Chouest, you are not allowed to take steps to protect yourself from possible rape or to have a say so over what you do with your own free time.
While I am at it I will call out Norcliffe Ocean Shipholding and Trading. They have/had a short creepy port captain, I was forced to share a suite with him instead of getting per diem or my own room. I ended up paying for my own room out of pocket so I wouldnât have to be there. He said inappropriate sexual things to me and also lowered my pay from 500 a day for 350 a day. When I reported this to the owner John Norcliffe I was fired the next day. I did make a complaint against them with the office of federal contract compliance because they are a government contractor and also with the EEOC.
It was a great pleasure to tell the sorry excuse for a port captain in front of the top engineers and management at North Florida Shipyard that he is a short little man with NO personality and that is why he canât get a woman on his own.
Apparently the tug Sea Eagle sank a few months later. I hope they will have money to pay me.
ÂŻ_(ă)_/ÂŻ
You going to edit that post 5 times as well?
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âOn October 8, the AMO National Executive Board convened and voted unanimously to suspend John Merrone from the registration list. AMO will not refer him for employment, pending further investigation, as due process and legal issues must be considered.â
Source: American Maritime Officers - AMO
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Merrone Out at AMO.
Suspect this story is not overâŚ
WHEREAS,
It has come to the attention of the National Executive Board and [the AMO National President] that multiple credible allegations have been made against John Merrone ashore and while he was aboard vessels under AMO contract.
Permitting John Merrone to sail and benefit from Union membership poses an immediate threat to the safety of our members and that of their crew and also threatens the interests of the Union.
The National Executive Board has already taken action to ensure that John Merrone is not referred out for employment.
The Union is committed to a policy of non-discrimination, including by Article I, section 5 of the AMO National Constitution.
The National Executive Board has the authority and duty to protect the interests and further the welfare of this Union and its members, including under Article VI, section 4(g).
The National President has the authority and duty to advance and protect the interests and welfare of this Union and its members, including under Art. VIII, sec. 1(j).
On October 11, 2022, the National Executive Board, including [the AMO National President], met and, after considering grounds for the same, voted unanimously in favor of dropping John Merrone from the roll of membership.
In keeping with due process, John Merrone may appeal this action at a membership meeting in the manner and within the time allowed under Art. XXVI, sec. 3(b).
THEREFORE, the National President and the National Executive Board jointly and concurrently immediately drop John Merrone from the roll of AMO membership.
THE NATIONAL EXECUTIVE BOARD AND
THE NATIONAL PRESIDENT
October 12, 2022
Terrible that this kind of shit happens. Goes to show you you never know who youâre sailing with.
Just watchâŚdown the road weâre going to see CCTV cameras onboard all over the place with the recorded loops being as regulated as the VDR. I guess if thatâs what it takes thatâs what it takes 
That already exists on a lot of ships and has for years.
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Wood chipper, feet first, off the stern.
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Rapists in prison are given a very bad time and may be subject to physical abuse, maiming and or death. Inmates have wives, sisters, and children and this doesnât go down well amongst the prison population.
I am very sympathetic to the victim though this is of little consolation at this time
CCTV outside the stateroom door for KP cadets has already been brought up as a requirement to being able to have KP cadets on board.
While cadets are at high risk of sexual assault/sexual harassment, any crewmember is a potential victim. SASH cuts across genders, power distances and sexual orientations. Putting cameras only outside the cadetsâ staterooms supposes that they are the only potential victims and that the assaults only take place in their staterooms.
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Agreed. The cameras werenât a company policy though, it was a KP requirement. It was mentioned in the SASH packet that KP put out after they suspended cadet shipping for a bit. I havenât seen any cameras yet. My last ship did have a pretty thorough list of rules and requirements that had to be met prior to entering a cadet stateroom posted on the cadet room doors. Interestingly, none of the rules applied to other cadets.
Is Shipping being unfairly singled out?
I suspect that employee and co-worker rapes are pretty common shoreside too.
Remember Harvey Weinstein. Heâs on trial again in California.
Date rapes are especially common on college campuses. Iâve heard a statistic, but donât remember it. Maybe itâs something like a quarter of college women are date raped.
The level of risk varies in different industries. One might think that alluring barmaids, strippers, actresses, models, and sex workers would be at particularly high risk.
Many children at are at significant risk in the home, at school, and in church.
What are the two places where boys are most at risk Prison and church?
I suspect that drug users are at very high risk.
I hear that Native American women living on reservations are at ultra high risk.
I think Shipping is being unfairly singled out for its supposed ârape culture.â I donât believe that shipping has any rape culture. There is no Hollywood casting couch on a ship. No doubt, shipping is higher risk than many other occupations.
I suspect that more rapes happen at KP, or most other college campuses, in a typical week, than happen onboard all US ships in a year.
Unfortunately, the propensity to rape is an all too common flaw of human nature that has been with us since cavemen weâre stalking, clubbing and dragging women back to their caves. Rapes can be reduced and punished, but not eliminated.
Shipping is getting an undeserved bad rap.
Interesting, I was not aware of that. Not surprising at all though.
Not so sure weâre being unfairly singled out. In a legitimate rape or sexual assault case on a ship when youâre out in the middle of the oceanâespecially one that involves senior officers being the perpetratorsâyou have limited options. In fact, you might as well be at the south pole or on the space station. Unfortunately, the âme tooâ movement has been abused to the point that it has turned into a âget-rich-quickâ scheme for many; due to this âboy who cried wolfâ phenomenon, some legitimate victims of sexual assault might not be taken seriously by others onboard. Thatâs kind of scary actually.
Found it, itâs on page 8:
Cameras are not uncommon in the oil patch. I think Iâve mentioned before one company I worked for the lawyers made us install cameras in the halls on all accommodations decks after an alleged incident on one ship. As long as they put it in the budget Iâll do whatever they want.
The only cameras I ever saw was in the cargo control room on an ATB. When I asked about them I was told someone kept burning up the ballast pumps and no one would fess up so they installed the cameras. If I remember correctly they were pointing towards the computer screens that controlled both the ballast and cargo systems.