A recruiter was able to place several teachers to work in different school districts in the US. These teachers are now gainfully employed. Unfortunately for the recruiter, she is facing a serious predicament for violating United States human trafficking laws.
Universal Placement International recruited teachers to work in the United States sometime in 2006. A work program was advertised in the newspaper and several teachers responded to the advertisement. The applicants were interviewed and were asked to pay $5000 upon submission of their documents.
As soon as the recruitment fee was received, petitions for H1B visas were processed through the recruitment agency. When these were approved and the applicants concluded their interview with the U.S. Embassy, the teachers were asked to pay an additional $10,000. Failure to pay the additional sum would result in forfeiture of the first $5,000 and the teachers would not be permitted to travel to the United States as their passports would be withheld. Considering their desire to work abroad after obtaining massive loans to pay the recruitment fees, the teachers paid the demands of the recruiter.
Upon their arrival in the United States, the recruiter placed the teachers in school districts in Louisiana.
According to the court records, the defendant recruiter “threatened abuse of legal process in an effort to intimidate and control” by threatening that she would have teachers deported if they start speaking against her, or, if they do not comply with her demands. A specific example given in the case involved the situation where certain teachers planned to change their housing arrangements to save on the high cost, but the recruiter became upset and told the teachers not to move and threatened to deport them. Recruiter also made additional threats to sue, allow visas to expire and terminate teachers if the teachers did not pay additional fees demanded by the recruiter.
Having garnered enough courage to put a stop to the recruiter’s maltreatment, a group of these H1B (professional worker visa) teachers filed a class action lawsuit against the recruiter before a federal district court (Mairi Nunag Tanedo et al v. East Baton Rouge Parish School Board, et al Case No. SACV 10 1172-AG, 2011 US Dist Lexus 50754). The plaintiff teachers filed several charges which include, among others, violation of the Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act of 2000 (TVPA), fraud, declaratory relief concerning the validity of certain contracts due to undue influence, RICO violations, as well as unfair business practices in violation of Business and Professions Code.
Non Physical Coercion
The recruiters and the other defendants filed a Motion to Dismiss. Their position is that there is lack of severity of the teacher’s financial situation and working conditions. The TVPA was enacted to combat trafficking persons into sex trade, slavery and slavery like condition. The defendant claims that with the teacher’s employment, they were not treated in a manner that would amount to any of the prohibited activity. In fact, defendant recruiter claims “teaching high school math and science hardly qualify as the type of activity targeted by Congress.
While they were not “physically” treated in a slave-like condition, the District Court found the TVPA charges against defendant as a valid claim. In the decision dated May 11, 2011, the court stated that involuntary servitude also includes non physical forms of coercion. It is sufficient that the defendant/recruiter’s conduct created a situation where ceasing labor would cause plaintiff/teachers serious harm. It was clearly stated that TVPA is not only about heinous crimes perpetrated against the victims but also covers various types of fraud and extortion leading to forced labor.
Threatening Deportation Causes Serious Harm
The District Court states that threatening deportation for violation of immigration law is an act that caused serious harm to the teachers. It recognized that the recruiter engaged in a fraudulent scheme to financially manipulate the teachers through the various threats she perpetrated. These threats of deportation and threat to have the teachers dismissed so their visas would expire is an abuse of legal process since the goal was to intimidate and coerce the teachers into ‘forced labor’. The teachers had no choice but to continue working because they have incurred loans to pay the recruiter and the only way to re-pay all these obligations is to work. They just did not want to work, but they “needed “ to work.
Avoiding Manipulative Acts
When we hear about human trafficking, we usually associate it with involuntary servitude where an individual is forced to work without pay or with minimal wages. Forcing a worker to render services under threat that she is going to be arrested, imprisoned and deported are the classic cases of human trafficking. However, with the decision of the U.S. District Court favoring the H1B teachers, the employees prevailed in their right to be treated justly and with dignity. The defendants may still file an appeal on this decision and the decision may still not be final. But the U.S. District court decision is worthy of commendation as indeed psychological coercion is equally worse as physical coercion.
(Tancinco may be reached at law@tancinco.com or at 887 7177 or 721 1963)
