Former Matson Navigation captain Katherine Sweeney has won a
lawsuit in which she alleged she was discriminated against by the Washington
state Board of Pilotage Commissioners because she’s a woman.
Sweeney, who helmed Matson containerships for seven years,
had been aiming to become Puget Sound’s first female maritime pilot, but she
said she was held back by a “good ol’ boys’ network” and widespread nepotism.
Sweeney was admitted to pilot training in 2007 as the
state’s first-ever female pilot trainee and entered into a program that was run
at the time by an all-male training evaluation committee and included trainees
who were related to their instructors.
Despite performing as well as her male counterparts, Sweeney
said, she was denied a license. This led her to sue the state Board of Pilotage
Commissioners, which had voted against issuing her a pilot’s license.
In mid-October, a jury agreed with her claims and awarded
her $3.6 million. However, she has said she has no intention of again trying to
gain a pilot’s license and now works as an industry safety consultant.
“Hopefully, as a result of this lawsuit, this door will
change and it'll open for the next woman, but I think it's pretty much shut for
me,” she said in an interview with Seattle TV station KING, which first reported the outcome of the lawsuit.
The nine-member Board of Pilotage Commissioners, whose
members are appointed by the Governor, said it has not decided if it will
appeal the verdict.
