WCNYH

LONGSHOREMAN BARRED FROM WATERFRONT FOR KILLING SEAGULLS AT WORK AND COMMITTING FRAUD, DECEIT, OR MISREPRESENTATION

January 9, 2018

   Today, the Commission revoked the registration of longshoreman Terence O’Regan following a hearing before an Administrative Law Judge (ALJ). The ALJ had found that O’Regan had violated the Waterfront Commission Act because he committed multiple acts of fraud, deceit, or misrepresentation to secure inclusion in the longshoremen’s register and he committed offenses that render his presence at the piers or other waterfront terminals in the Port of New York district a danger to the public peace or safety.

   Evidence presented at the hearing demonstrated that, on December 19, 2016, at Maher Terminals LLC, in Elizabeth, New Jersey, while registered as a longshoreman, O’Regan intentionally drove a straddle container carrier, a “massive piece of machinery . . . at least 35 feet high and weigh[ing] 100,000 pounds,” through a flock of ring-billed gulls about 20-30 feet out of his way. O’Regan ran over and killed 15 gulls and then continued his work duties without notifying his supervisor. As a result of his actions, he was charged with violating the federal Migratory Bird Treaty Act, for which he was assessed a fine. The ALJ described the Respondent’s killing of the gulls as “bizarre and dangerous.” The death of the gulls “was a very immediate and foreseeable consequence of his actions. According to Maher Terminals his conduct risked serious harm to himself and his co-workers.”

   In addition, the ALJ found that, years earlier, O’Regan had committed multiple acts of fraud, deceit or misrepresentation in response to questions on a sworn document that allowed him to secure registration as a longshoreman referred by the International Longshoremen’s Association. On that sworn document, O’Regan did not honestly answer questions about his history of drug use. The ALJ noted that O’Regan had “secured his registration as a longshoreman through multiple deceptions” and questioned “how can he be fully trusted to now follow waterfront rules and regulations promoting safety in an inherently dangerous workplace?”

   After considering the entire record, the Commission adopted the ALJ’s findings and his recommendation to revoke O’Regan’s registration as a longshoreman.