WCNYH

Longshoreman Removed from Waterfront Following Failed Drug Test at Port, False Testimony Regarding Who Sold Him Cocaine, and Unexcused Absences

December 21, 2022

Today, the Commission removed longshoreman John Calabrese, 48, of Elizabeth, New Jersey, from the waterfront for failing to meet the work and work availability requirements in July 2021-June 2022. The Commission made the following findings:

1. From about 2020 until October 18, 2021, while registered as a longshoreman, he unlawfully possessed and used cocaine. He used the drug after a history of Commission-directed discipline for cocaine use (he was suspended for 2 weeks in 2010 and barred from the docks from 2012 until 2016).
2. Calabrese had been employed as a port worker at the Red Hook Container Terminal facility in Port Newark. On October 20, 2021, Calabrese caused an accident at the port by improperly using a company-owned vehicle to push a stalled vehicle, causing property damage. He then submitted to post-accident drug testing that yielded a positive result for cocaine. His subsequent suspension from employment was extended into January 2022 because he failed to timely complete the mandatory drug rehabilitation program.
3. During a sworn interview, Calabrese falsely testified about who sold him the cocaine in 2021 that caused his suspension. The individual whom he identified had been dead since February 2020. The Commission determined that Calabrese’s dishonesty belied any claims that he was committed to a drug-free existence.
4. In 2022, after his suspension had concluded, Calabrese continued missing work on the waterfront. Calabrese rarely worked on Fridays. The Commission found that his decision to not work on Fridays, not motor vehicle problems or a medical condition as he had claimed, was the cause of absences. He also failed to work on Saturdays; the Commission found that he offered implausible testimony that he was unaware or never thought that he could make himself available for work on weekends.

After making these findings, the Commission unanimously denied Calabrese’s request to be retained on the longshoremen’s register in the Port of New York-New Jersey.