A woman claimed she was physically assaulted and left unconscious following a brawl which erupted during a recent meeting of The Bahamas Hotel Catering and Allied Workers Union (BHCAWU), the Bahama Journal understands.

Melony Gibson, 43, said she had to be taken away by ambulance after she was shoved and struck to the face at last Tuesday’s general meeting at Workers House on Tonique Williams Darling Drive.

Ms. Gibson identified her attacker as a union organiser.

She claimed that the situation at the meeting quickly escalated to complete and utter mayhem and she alleged that BHCAWU President Nicole Martin orchestrated it all.

“I got to the meeting a little late,” she said. “The meeting started at 7:00 p.m., but I didn’t get there until 7:30 p.m. When I took a seat, the president [Nicole Martin] was speaking and I noticed that she was throwing jeers at members who she claimed had been kicked out of the union and therefore should not be at the meeting.

“Ms. Martin then stood up and walked towards a man whom she began directing her comments to and a group of men walked behind her eventually surrounding the man. It started to look like they were going to attack him physically. At this point the situation became heated in the room. I became afraid so I left the room and went outside.”

Ms. Gibson, who was among a group of union shop stewards released from their posts, said as she was leaving the room she noticed a fight had broken out among a group of people to the back of the room.

She said that she stayed outside for about 15 minutes before eventually attempting to re-enter the meeting.

“I thought by now things would have died down so I decided to go back inside,” she said. “Just as I was heading through the door, the pushing began and one of the guys pushed me then punched me right in the face. I just remember falling to the ground. The next thing I know was being taken to hospital by an ambulance.”

Ms. Gibson, who works as a baker at Carmine’s Family Restaurant, claims she suffered a concussion and injuries to her back. She was given four days off from work but has since returned to the doctor and given an additional seven days off.

She further claimed that she attempted to file a complaint at the Carmichael Road Police Station but was prevented from doing so.

The Journal spoke with Darren Wood, secretary general of the BHCAWU, who confirmed that there was an incident at the meeting, but he insisted that the incident occurred outside.

“I can’t say exactly what happened because I was inside the meeting recording the minutes of the meeting,” he said. “To my knowledge, nothing happened inside the meeting. I am told that there was something happening outside.”

Mr. Wood also said that there have been no complaints made to the executive council regarding the last Tuesday’s incident.