Pablo, a hardworking Filipino mechanic and naturalized U.S. citizen,, worked in Los Angeles for 23 years and earned enough to retire. However, he was persuaded by an insurance agent to transfer his retirement money to a complex insurance policy known as an equity-indexed annuity. He was further induced to transfer the funds to a second insurance company.
Unbeknownst to Pablo, every transfer of money resulted in a surrender charge of 33%. Hence, a transfer of $150,000 from insurance company A to insurance company B resulted in $50,000 that Pablo lost in surrender penalties. The company kept the $50,000 and the agent earned more commissions. Worse, Pablo discovered he could not immediately use his money without additional losses.
Pablo just lost a chunk of his retirement savings and felt shame and disgust at himself. Feeling powerless, he slowly spiraled into depression and had to undergo psychiatric care. We filed a lawsuit on his behalf to recover his money plus damages for emotional distress. Pablo’s deposition was taken.
During questioning by the three big firm insurance lawyers, Pablo was asked how he understood “surrender charges”.
Pablo, who grew up in the Philippines, replied with his arms raised: “I do not know surrender charges. All I know about surrender is when the Japanese raised their hands and surrendered to the Americans!”
The lawyers thought that Pablo was joking. But Pablo was serious. He truly did not know what ‘surrender charges’ meant in the context of an insurance contract. While he had worked in the U.S. for a long time, his speech patterns and cultural referents continued to reflect his upbringing in the Philippines.
For Pablo to win his case, he needed to be understood by an American court and jury. Pablo needed, not only a lawyer’s courtroom skills, but also one who understood his culture. He had to be able to speak to his attorney in his native language so that he could tell “the whole truth.” Since his
psychological state was at issue, he needed counsel who understood his emotional and cultural background. As Pablo’s background was explained, his testimony, in light of other evidence, started to make sense to the other parties. This understanding contributed to reaching a successful settlement for Pablo and his family.
Pablo’s case is an example of the challenges involved in helping immigrants obtain justice. Immigrants may need to go to court to seek relief for the following:
- when injured by the negligence or business fraud of another;
- when full wages are not paid to the immigrant;
- when defrauded by a company that deceptively marketed its products;
- when unreasonably denied benefits under an insurance policy.
A client’s lack of fluency in English can limit his or her full expression of the facts. An immigrant’s willingness to explain may be hindered by cultural factors like a sense of shame. Is the client keeping his true feelings to himself for fear of being perceived as dumb or crazy based on his cultural standards? Or is the client unwilling or unable to explain because of injured feelings?
Even when dealing with immigrant professionals, who are fluent in the English language, an attorney might still hit the cultural wall. My firm was hired by a major retirement home to defend the company’s manager accused of sexual harassment. The other attorney in the case, who used the usual straightforward style of asking questions, was unfamiliar with the manager’s cultural sensitivities and was not able to obtain “the whole truth”.
The manager felt that simply being accused of having forced himself on an unwilling woman was a badge of dishonor. Since he has been so dishonored, he would rather keep silent. What resulted was a communication breakdown.
Our involvement as attorneys who knew the manager’s culture and language brought a different dynamic into the case. Because the actual underpinnings of the manager’s behavior were understood, the approach to asking questions was done in a way that allowed the manager to open up. As more truth surfaced, a better evaluation of the issues led to a productive resolution of the case.
Communications that ensure complete understanding between clients and attorneys can help achieve success for the immigrant client’s case. This is especially true where emotional pains are suffered as is true in serious discrimination or personal injury cases.
The attorney’s knowledge of a client’s language and culture can go a long way in facilitating effective communications. Armed with more complete information, the attorney can better articulate the client’s damages to opposing counsel, to the court and the jury..
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The opinions, beliefs and viewpoints expressed by the author do not necessarily reflect the opinions, beliefs and viewpoints of the Asian Journal, its management, editorial board and staff.
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The Law Offices of C. Joe Sayas, Jr. welcomes inquiries about this topic. All inquiries are confidential and at no cost. You can contact the office at (818) 291-0088 or visit www.joesayaslaw.com. [For more than 25 years, C. Joe Sayas, Jr., Esq. successfully recovered wages and other monetary damages for thousands of employees and consumers. He was named Top Labor & Employment Attorney in California by the Daily Journal, selected as Super Lawyer by the Los Angeles Magazine for 11 years, and is a past Presidential Awardee for Outstanding Filipino Overseas.]
(Advertising Supplement)