CRST Sexual Harassment Case
I am disturbed but glad at the same time that some women are coming forward to speak about what is happening in the trucking industry to female students.
The 35 cases of sexual harrassment at CRST is just the tip of the iceberg but the tenacity to keep the story under wraps is precisely why I wrote my student trucker story on “Ask the Trucker” .
People outside the trucking community who have read my story “A Day in the Life of a Lady Trucker” have been shocked, while people inside the trucking community can ussually add 10-15 chapters of horror story material of their own.
When I see organizations trying to constantly demonize truckers it aggravates me because it’s the INDUSTRY of Trucking they should be focused on. The professional drivers they have under the microscope are the WRONG target!
It is the Industry who has permmitted and cultivated the unsafe conditions that the drivers are required to work in. The manner it is done is to leave drivers “holding the bag” when tragedy occurs. Now what is happening is that that Women are entering Trucking in greater numbers because some people are benifiting from recruiting them. I’ve recently been written to by Women who were encouraged by “Workforce Investment Act” Vouchers and Unemployment Workers who seem to work in conjunction with Trucking recruitment entities and organizations.
What is happening to many Women which before went mostly unreported has spurned The CRST Sexual Harrassment Case which began with a staggering 265 females who reported abuse at this single company. It is an extrodinary number that was later discredited down to 35 cases.
I am certain many more women and men would come forward from the CDL Mill training facilities if this story got a little more press. Seems like someone wants it hushed up. In fact, many terminals of these big truck training schools seem to have a very unusual way to keep certain websites blocked so that drivers cannot get information from the internet while on their property. I’m hearing this from drivers at many companies
It takes very little research on the internet to locate politcal affiliations these days. As it turns out the VP of Human Resources or as I like to call it since I came to Trucking, INHUMANE RESOURCES, is running for Mayor of Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
Now I’m sure he is a wonderful man because everyone I have met in HR since I came to Trucking so far is just about the nicest bunch of folks you ever wanna shake hands with BUT are they doing anything? I found they do not. In fact, my conclusions are that HR Trucking Personnel are about as close to a Criminal Defense Team as I ever wanna get. A perfect preliminary job for Politics in my opinion.
I hope I never get to a point in my life that my career is so important that I would actively try to cover harm that has been done to another human being!
This is an Industry Wide Failure that came about from GREED! It is not isolated to CRST by any means. It is not only Women who have been raped, beaten and left abandoned. But honestly do you have any idea how hard it is to come forward and talk about this publically? That is exactly why these women took so long. They were lied to like I was.
They were told by a smiling , handshaking liar that “Something is being done” when NOTHING was being done! EXCEPT, that the Statute of Limitations to file a Complaint was whittling away.
As a student you are in a catch 22, no one will hire you without experience and because of the DAC reporting system which is another scandal left to be uncovered you have your future hanging in the balance should you decide to make a complaint.
I believe that Lily Ledbetter was also told she waitied to long to file a complaint.
I’m sure glad she didn’t take no for an answer, she inspired me to start writing my story along with other “Loose Cannon’s” who were called whiner’s, troublemakers and radical feminists because they demanded to be treated like human beings.
The other side of the coin is: W hy are so many inappropriate students put behind the wheel of big rigs without proper guidance which is what the article by a former trainer discusses in “Hostile Training Environment “?
Umm! Guess .. go on, take a wild guess ….
Government Incentives to train Women and also to bring former Felons into to Workforce is part of the problem but a sheer lack of guidance is the biggest component of this problem.
These companies are so hungry for Government Incentives & Subsidies that they throw people on the road In TEAMS no less with little driving skill and less skill in conducting themselves in public.
A Gentleman I recently spoke to from my own company came up to talk to me a few weeks ago while we were at a shipping facility awaiting to have our trailers loded with bottled water. The topic of “teaming” during a Student’s Training came about.
This is what he said to me: “I am a Gentleman, I know how to conduct myself and treat a Woman with the respect she deserves but if you force me to live on a truck with her in this situation, even I say and do things that I am embarrssed of later!, It’s just unnatural, It’s Nature!”
Companies like these who are trying to EEK out every penny by manipulating people with lies, tricking them with their endless “Nickle & Dime Schemes” to make money off drivers who recieve such little income have succumbed to the lowest form of bottom feeders with the way they have let the NEW demographic of WOMEN be Sexually Harrassed and Violated.
The Harrassment is done to all the drivers, it’s just being a Woman we get labeled.
Do your Research, this Company is legendary. Here is a link to the “Ripoff-Report” from other CRST Drivers who are simply harrassed. “Rip Off Report on CRST”
The original CRST Story was written by the Cedar Rapids Gazette by David DeWitte I believe he has done followups but oddly these reports have not traveled mainstream as they should.
Maybe Twitter can Help? My Reach is about 133,000 and counting ….
The Trucking Industry I believe is now positioning itself to utilize another new demographic, not just work visa student truckers but returning veterans from our armend forces. This bothers me because many of these young people will return with PTSD . They do not deserve to be further tormented by a system built in trucking to provoke less fortunate people who move America’s freight.
I am one of the woman in the law suit. I am the only one still employed at CRST.
They sent a message out last week about how they had won. I am now worried that I will be fired.
I am not sure where to turn.
EEOC lawyer wont be in office til tuesday.
Tracy Tuttle-Hamm
Dear Tracy:
I am so glad to meet you. I agree that CRST set about “SPINNING” this story the very second the Judge made the order. I am in touch privately to this case and everyone is sickened about the dimissal.
CRST did send a Qualcomm message out to it’s drivers shortly after the Judgement professing “Vindication” but IN FACT it was filing errors that saved their ASS!!!
I understand that CRST IS A SPONSER of the Organization “Women in Trucking” which I just recently became aware of but I AM A MEMBER & I should hope CRST realizes it would be very poor judgement to act in retaliation against you.
I too still work for my company that I write about in my Student Trucker Horror Story but these days I get none of the treatment I received when I was a SILENT agreeable “Team Player”. I felt due to the DAC Reporting System which has numerous erroneous compalints against drivers to “Keep them Silent” I was better staying under the Devil’s Roof. I have a wonderful dispatcher now and I rarely hear anything from them, I simply do my job and they do theirs. This is as it should be.
Please feel free to contact me or write your story here in it’s entirety.
I will email you privately with my contact information.
My understanding is that 4 cases will be settled out of court, that means those Women will probably not be able to ever speak publically about the truth of what they experienced. Also, an appeal is not out of the question but because the Women who filed the complaints have little assistance for Legal help this avenue may not be pursued unless a good Pro-Bono Law Firm comes forward.
Corporate Lawyers are not in business to do things in the interest of what is “RIGHT” or “HUMANE”, they exist to save the Public Image of the Offender. That is what the CRST dimissal on technical grounds is and it can be read in the lengthy document with the Judge’s Opinions.
Most normal people will not read these things so that is why CRST can send a Qualcomm out to Drivers and delibrately “spin” the Judgement to their liking.
Here is a Recent Google Search for CRST Sexual Harrassment
Here is a link that has been sent to me that might help other Drivers seeking Assistance for a Law Firm that HELPS TRUCKER’s Fight the Companies.
“Trucker’s Justice Center” I am not at liberty to share who sent this to me but it is to help others who are desperately seeking help.
As we all know, there are currently no organizations willing to be pro-active and crack some heads over the creepy conduct that has been occuring in this Industry.
Also, check out my FAQ Section where I posted the “Blog Talk Radio” links to the “Workplace Bullying” Shows we did on “Ask the Trucker” that were inspired by the CRST Sexual Harrasment Case.
I am providing this for informational purposes only.
Also, for anyone who wants to dig into the truth about the “TECHNICALITIES” that dismissed the CRST Case I am told that you can look up the Courts Records & read for yourself that it’s is not because CRST is scum free. It’s is because of the way the case was filed.
Tracy, for years I have been considered CRST management and even was deposed for the harrassment proceedings. You even know me. Although I had just been released from the hospital following several operations and was on heavy painkiller medication when I was deposed by the EEOC, I was simply not asked the right questions. Several of the allegations came directly from my office, not by my people but originated through drivers walking in my door with complaints. I personally am appalled that CRST got a clear pass for this. I know of many incidents where drivers violated the trust of their students and got away with it. One case where a female student was raped and dispatch told her to stay on the truck until her fleet manager came on duty the next day. The lady who filed the original claim went through my orientation and her lead driver admitted to me they had sex together. Unfortunately the EEOC botched the suit. Now that is all said and done, I to am victim to CRST and its poor management. I gave my 2 weeks notice last week because I can no longer stand by while people with no education or trucking experience run the company. It claims to be the premiere training company yet its Corporate Training Manager has no college, simply a high school diploma, as does the head of Safety and Recruiting. The Training Manager was bragging about it. Yes I am a disgruntled employee, soon to be an ex employee but those of you who know me also know I take matters like harrassment claims seriously and personally, the women who were harrassed are getting screwed. Its the golden rule, he who has the gold makes the rules.
Dear OKC Safety:
I will pass this comment on to Tracy and I Thank YOU for posting here!
So many people are starting to come forward and we CAN change this runaway train.
I am aware that upper Management at CRST has read this post many times and that they have inquired about me.
I am aware that organizations I am a member of who say they work on behalf of drivers are also scrambling to help CRST evade suspicion.
To me, they are accomplices and these people and organizations have no business collecting membership fees when they have zero intent to protect the very people they recruit.
Thanks for speaking out. Better late than never.
I don’t know the Man’s name but during the Enron scandal there was a man who committed Suicide.
I don’t know all the details but it was inferred that he knew many of the things that were being covered up and he never spoke up.
So many lives and familes were affected by the Greed of a handful of people at Enron, yet many others HELPED those corrupted from greed by NOT speaking out. That is something that has stayed in my mind as I have written my Student Trucker Story.
I often tried to walk away from what I was seeing and hearing since I came into the Trucking Industry.
I just can’t do it though.
It’s time for everyone to speak up when we know others are being harmed.
OKC Safety
Please email me. I would really like to know how you are doing. I miss talking to you about things. Look me up on facebook or just email me.
Tracy
Trucking companies are big businesses with deep pockets for expensive attorneys. When you have 265 people reporting harassment from (1) company, notice should be taken. As you pointed out in your post, the tactic used is deliberately delaying the reporting of such actions by the employee be various means, thus, being able to come back and say the statute of limitations has expired. The 35 cases from 265, this was the main reason … the women “waited too long” … not discredited, but the statute of limitations, when most people wouldn’t even know that there were such a thing. But the companies know, and this is how they “beat” these allegations so often. But more and more people are coming forward and “fighting back” and we will continue our efforts as well by reporting on such incidents and eventually justice will be seen for employee rights.
Des
I just watched the Dan Rather Reports, You did a good job. I have so much to say and I understand that there is only so much time. I was glad to interviewed. I just hope this goes farther. Good luck and Be safe.
Hi truckerdesiree,
I am a 52 year old women that has spent my entire life working in a male dominated industry which has been Construction. I have worked and owned my own business for over 34 years. Because of our economy I was forced to do something else and my choice was the trucking industry. I new it wasn’t an easy choice and have heard the rumors like everyone has. You just never dream it could be as bad as it is. I find the trucking industry both sad and disgusting. I am one of the lucky ones. I can make it on the measly money you are paid. But this industry (Trucking) goes against everything I have have fought for my entire life…And I do not plan on just being a part of it and turning the other cheek. I hope I can in some small or big way make a difference.
Since this journey began 4 months ago until now. Is how long it has taken me to finely get through the training part of it all.
I do know that my trainer is no longer with my company. The pictures I had of his behavior and unprofessional acts is what cost him his job.
Safety could not just push it under the rug. I gave them the tools and to my surprise they got rid of him. 🙂
I will doc everything along the way as I did through my training. It is called covering your ass.
I have lots to share and plan on pissing off a few people along the way. Enough is enough.
And thanks for being strong. 🙂
Sincerely,
doitherselfer
[…] Also, I am including this post I made about the CRST Sexual Harrassment Case which is Ellen Voie’s Sponser. It is from this post I came to know Tracey Tuttle-Hamm and “OKCSafety” who is “Tom” in the Dan Rather Segment called “Queen of the Road” read it HERE […]
[…] CRST Sexual Harassment Case by @TruckerDesiree […]
I received a message from Tracy Hamm that the Shank Case jury found CRST and Individual guilty of malice in an individual case in San Bernadino California. This was a case where the woman was able to secure legal counsel apart from the EEOC but was mentioned in the bigger suit. This is very good news. I know being in a court action this long is tiresome & very happy for Ms. Shank to have some justice
I do not know how you found out about my case and win. I just want to let you know it means the world to me to know there is public support for the silent victims of companies like CRST who do not care about the safety for their women employees.
Karen,
We met in CA at your trial. I am going back to driving next week. Good luck to you.
Tracy
I am so happy that Karen found this page & posted here. Tracy was the first to find this post & then Tom Hansen. It was because they spoke up in a public place that I could direct the Dan Rather producers to hear a portion of this story. When Tracy texted me the other day to tell me Karen won a jury trial it was such good news to know some sort of justice was served. There are many other gals waiting for their day & only those who have suffered in silence know what a lonely road it is to endure. I thank all of you for having the courage to speak out.
Sorry Tracy for not remembering that I met you. There was so much going. I hope all goes well for you out there. Be safe!
[…] Hamm was employed by them. Tracy Hamm was a student and a trainer for the carrier who posted on the Trucker Desiree blog along with former CRST Safety Personnel Tom […]
I just left CRST this past saturday,their recruiter named ED told me as a lead driver/trainer I would be driving around 7500 miles a week with a trainee and their bridge insurance would cover my wifes prescriptions,as it turned out in the 2 weeks I was there my trainee and I only ran a little over 3900 miles of which I will only get paid for half or about 1800 miles. My wife went the other day to get her fentinal patches she must wear every day for pain,under the bridge insurance thse patches were going to cost us $400.00 OUT OF POCKET for a months supply.I had to leave CRST because of the low miles and the out of pocket expenses for my wifes medical prescriptions.I have been in trucking almost 24 years and I have to say CRST has a pack of liers working there.I can see why they have such a big turn over rate.thank you.
Thank You for taking the time to comment. We need more people to come forward about the dirty operations above and beyond the massive sexual harassment case that the EEOC attempted to take on against CRST. This carrier has a graveyard of skeltons with regards to their unethical business practices and they are not the only one who are in the business of benefitting from the truck driver training industry.
I hope you can find a better carrier that provides what they claim. I know that is no easy task. I have recently been working with James McCormack a recruiter who is a straight shooter. Maybe you should call him. The number is 770-334-8132
PS: I have a more recent post on CRST for 2012 and I am going to copy and paste your comments there seeing how your remarks reflect current CRST standards. Thanks, Desiree
I was a female driver with CRST 12-14-12 thru 1-6-2013. My co-driver attempted to rape me. The company made us share a motel room when the truck broke down. I ask for my own room and was denied. The company was on his side. Not only did he attempt to rape me, he made very bad choices as a driver, was involved in a hit and run, pulled the tandem bar on me while I was under a Hazmat load, etc, etc. After I reported, he was allowed to run Solo. CRST is a team company. Great reward for him.
I am sorry to hear about your experience with this disgusting carrier who has yet to be punished for the climate they have. We have started a women truckers group through the site http://www.REALwomenintrucking.com for women seeking support. Are you still driving? I would like to talk to you more. My cell is 760 975 6868 and direct email is truckerdesiree@gmail.com its too bad scum like him is allowed to disappear back into the population but that is the way it is thanks to companies like CRST
[…] Here is a comment I moderated on a very old blog last week from a women attempting to enter trucking. (Click here to read the post) […]
[…] (Hamm) Livingston was part of the initial CRST Sex Harassment cases we first heard about in 2009. She remained working at the carrier during the case under enormous […]
[…] (Hamm) Livingston was part of the initial CRST Sex Harassment cases we first heard about in 2009. She remained working at the carrier during the case under enormous […]
[…] 2017 , nearly 10 years after my first post about this troubled training fleet on this very blog ( My 1st post about CRST from 2009 ). Silence, excuses and failed leadership is why sexual assault allegations have continued at […]