11 OFWs win $15.3-M lawsuit vs. LA bakery owners

Eleven Filipino workers allegedly forced to work under abusive conditions won a $15.3-million lawsuit against their employers, according to a report on the LA Times.
Named respondents in the lawsuit filed March 2015 were Analiza and Goncalo Moitinho de Almeida, owners of L'Amande French Bakery who were accused of labor and wage violation.
The decision was handed down by US District Judge Fernando Olguin on May 2, the report said.
Christopher Lapinig, the OFWs lawyer, said in a statement that the ruling will hopefully make clear to "exploitative employers" who resort to "unlawful activity to escape accountability for their labor abuses" that they may "no longer act with impunity".
A report on the Daily Breeze said the couple must pay the following:
• More than $3.7 million in compensatory damages for human trafficking and $1.25 million for violating the Fair Employment and Housing Act.
• More than $3.7 million in punitive damages for human trafficking and $1.25 million for FEHA violations.
• More than $1 million in statutory damages for wage and hour law violations;
• $200,000 for statutory damages for violation of California’s whistleblower and retaliation law.
• More than $1.2 million for damages under the RICO Act.
• More than $2.8 million in attorneys’ fees.
It added that the judge also voided the couple's transfer of their home.
According to the workers, the couple promised them work as "skilled bakery chefs and managers" but were put into “oppressive and discriminatory conditions as domestic servants, physical laborers engaged in landscaping and building maintenance" instead.
The 11 Filipino plaintiffs said they worked14-hour workdays on a rate of $3 per hour with no days off at the two branches of L'Amande.
The couple also allegedly ordered a reimbursement of $11,000 for their travel and E-2 visa fees unless they commit to working for three years.
Analiza, earlier identified by the Daily Breeze as Ana Santos, initially denied the "blatant lies" told by their Filipino workers.
She added, "I have treated them like family, shouldering many of their financial needs including educational, medical, dental, disaster relief, clothing and housing needs, for decades." —Rie Takumi/KBK, GMA News

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

PCG: China’s bullying in West Philippine Sea undermines international law --- Ghio Ong - The Philippine Star

MANILA, Philippines — Letting China sustain its aggression in the West Philippine Sea would make other countries doubt the strength of international law currently being asserted by the Philippines, Commodore Jay Tarriela of the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) said. “Allowing China to blatantly disregard the established rules-based order threatens the very foundation that we all depend on,” he wrote in a post on X last Tuesday. He added, “If we permit this, countries worldwide may forget why this order was created in the first place. Nations could begin to doubt the significance of adhering to international law if powerful bullies can easily violate it.” Tarriela also said defiance of other countries to a rules-based order would result in the prevalence of cruelty. He wrote, “This could lead us back to a time when might makes right, undermining the global structures that keep human greed, savagery and barbarism in check. Such a scenario would not only invite challenges from aggressive ...
Read more

China ships maintain presence in key West Philippine Sea areas --- Michael Punongbayan - The Philippine Star

STAR / Michael Varcas MANILA, Philippines — While Chinese vessels in the West Philippine Sea (WPS) have decreased in number, they have maintained a presence in three key land features where naval and coast guard ships have intensified operations in the past seven days, according to the Philippine Navy. Latest monitoring by the Philippine Navy showed armed ships of the People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) maintaining a menacing presence around the grounded BRP Sierra Madre in Ayungin Shoal, Panatag Shoal and Escoda Shoal. According to the Philippine Navy, there are 17 Chinese military vessels and 28 China Coast Guard (CCG) boats spotted inside the country’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ) between Sept. 23 and 30, or one vessel more than in the previous week Sept.17-23. Five of the warships were seen roaming around the vicinity of Escoda Shoal, along with 10 CCG vessels and 12 maritime militia vessels (MMVs). There are also two PLAN ships in Ayungin Shoal as well as 10 CCG boats and 12...
Read more

Social media seen as cause of rising intermarriages --- Helen Flores - The Philippine Star

MANILA, Philippines — The Commission on Filipinos Overseas (CFO) sees social media as the main reason for the rising number of Filipinos marrying or becoming partners of foreign nationals. In 2022, the CFO recorded 6,854 marriages or partnerships with foreign nationals, a 40.1 percent increase from the 4,891 “intermarriages” recorded in 2021. “First of all, what we see in the increase in the marriage rate of Filipinos or Filipinos with foreign partners is because of social media, (that) is number one; matchings; letters, introduction of their friends,” CFO chairperson Romulo Arugay said at the Bagong Pilipinas Ngayon public briefing yesterday. Arugay said the agency has been registering a high number of intermarriages since 2007, but the figures went down during the COVID-19 pandemic. From over 6,500 Filipinos who married foreign nationals, only 600 are men, he said. Most of them are married to Americans, Japanese, Germans, Canadians and Australians, Arugay said. Arugay warned Fi...
Read more