Blackwater Accused of Racism on Its Anti-Piracy Ship

A Black crewman claims he was called racist names. His colleague says, “[Blackwater supervisors] basically think they can get away with whatever the hell they want to do.”

By Jeremy Scahill

Blackwater, the company which now tries to make people refer to it as Xe, may soon have more lawyers than mercenaries on its payroll. It is being sued left and right for killing innocent Iraqis, remains under Justice Department and Congressional investigation, stands accused of attempting to smuggle weapons used in a massacre out of Iraq and on and on.

Now, it appears that Blackwater’s foray into the world of fighting pirates has hit rough waters. Bill Sizemore of the Virginian-Pilot breaks another story this week on how Blackwater is being sued by former crewmembers of its anti-piracy ship, the McArthur, which for months has been deployed near the Middle East in an effort to scare up business on the high seas:

[L]egal papers allege that it’s the McArthur’s own crewmen that need protection – from their superior officers.

The picture of life aboard the McArthur that emerges from those documents seems ripped from the pages of a pirate yarn of yore: Verbal and physical abuse. Alcohol-fueled outbursts. Racial harassment and retaliation. And the punishment for loose lips: being clapped in irons.

One former crew member says that on the orders of the captain, he was thrown to the deck and handcuffed in retaliation for speaking to a newspaper reporter. He is suing for false imprisonment, saying he was unlawfully detained by being “placed in irons.”

Another crew member, who is black, says that he was subjected to racial epithets from the chief engineer and that when he complained, the captain did nothing about the harassment and retaliated by giving the seaman a poor evaluation.

A third man, the ship’s chief steward, says he was fired after he submitted a written statement to his superiors documenting the hostile work environment and racial harassment aboard the vessel.

Company officials had hoped the McArthur would help take up the slack from the loss of their big diplomatic security contract in Iraq.

[…]

In a discrimination complaint filed last month with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, Korey Jordan alleges that he was subjected to racial epithets by the chief engineer on the McArthur, Melvin Kufelot.

When Jordan complained… the captain told him, “You need to grow a tougher shell,” and later retaliated against him by giving him a poor evaluation…

The negative evaluation was “a slap in the face – a complete 180,” he said. “In nine years in the Navy, I never experienced anything like that.

“Now I’m expected to go back into this hostile environment, filled with hate and discontent, and work productively.”

[…]

[C]hief steward Christopher Stamper, filed an EEOC complaint this week alleging that he was fired in retaliation for a written statement he submitted to Xe’s management documenting racial slurs and a hostile work environment aboard the McArthur.

He also says he refused to sign a statement drafted by Xe management denying that he had witnessed racial harassment… Stamper, 36, said the McArthur’s crew lived in constant fear of ill treatment and retaliation by their superiors. “Honestly, I was afraid in the beginning to say anything that would discredit them,” he said. “They basically think they can get away with whatever the hell they want to do.”

Read Bill Sizemore’s complete story here.