THE GREATER NEW ORLEANS AREA HAD NO SHORTAGE OF UNEMPLOYED AFTER KATRINA. WHY DID A SHIP BUILDER FEEL HE NEEDED TO IMPORT LABOR. OF COURSE HE SAVED MONEY BUT NOT AFTER THE COURT IMPOSED THE BILL FOR BREAKING THE LAW
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| U.S. Fifth Circuit Court Of Appeals New Orleans, Photo credit: GSA |
"A New Orleans jury on Wednesday awarded $14 million to five Indian men who were lured to the United States and forced to work under inhumane conditions after Hurricane Katrina by a U.S. ship repair firm and its codefendants.
After a four-week trial, the U.S. District Court jury ruled that Alabama-based Signal International was guilty of labor trafficking, fraud, racketeering and discrimination and ordered it to pay $12 million. Its co-defendants, a New Orleans lawyer and an India-based recruiter, were also found guilty and ordered to pay an additional $915,000 each.
The trial was the first in more than a dozen related lawsuits with over 200 plaintiffs that together comprise one of the largest labor trafficking cases in U.S. history." The full story may be read in THE MARITIME EXECUTIVE:
To our minds this is simply the ship building industry version of the endless attacks on the Jones Act protected industries, their American jobs, and contribution to our national security and energy self sufficiency. To read about the attacks on the domestic shipping sector we suggest "BLOOD ON BROWN WATER by the National Mariners Association, available as a read on line document free in our MERCHANT MARINE INTEREST SECTION.
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