Bahamas Paradise Cruise Line Sued Over Unpaid Wages By Stranded Crew Members

A lawsuit has been filed by the crew of the Bahamas Paradise Cruise Line claiming that they have not been paid for the hours that they have worked as they wait to be sent home during the coronavirus pandemic.

Bahamas Paradise, which operates two-night cruises from West Palm Beach to Grand Bahama, is one of several cruise lines that has crew members onboard waiting to be repatriated. Bahamas Paradise has said it will not begin sailing again until Oct. 1. The Cruise Lines International Association has said its members will not sail until at least after Oct. 31.

Bahamas Paradise’s Grand Celebration ship in Palm Beach is one of those ships that has had crew aboard since mid-March. However, the crew members say they have been working cleaning and cooking since that time without getting paid, according to a lawsuit filed in Miami federal court on Tuesday.

In the lawsuit, the crew members claim that that they are engaging in “forced labor,” in addition to other claims against the cruise line of delaying repatriating crew to save on expenses, failing to pay the guaranteed two-months’ severance, and making crew members sign misleading agreements to terminate their employment contracts.

Dragan Janicijevic, 44, a casino worker aboard a Bahamas Paradise ship, is the lead plaintiff in the suit. He made it off the ship, but not before he signed a form agreeing to stay on board without wages instead of getting a flight home.

Janicijevic told the Miami Herald that his supervisor told him he had to sign it, or he wouldn’t be hired back.

“I didn’t see this coming,” he said. “I thought, why would I lose my job?”

Michael Winkleman, Janicijevic’s attorney, said because U.S. labor laws do not apply to seafarers, the crew members’ only option is to file a lawsuit to recoup their lost wages.

“The agreement they were forced to sign is unenforceable because they made them sign it with the threat of not being hired back,” Winkleman told the Miami Herald. “As it relates to the folks who were forced to work, that’s essentially slavery.”

Janicijevic is looking to recoup his lost wages as well as his two-months severance pay with the class-action lawsuit.