(Part 2)
S. YUSUF is an Indonesian native who was brought to work as a housekeeper for Tija and Tija’s wife, Choi, in the United States. The Tijas promised to pay Yusuf $500 per month, plus expenses and meals. Yusuf gave her passport to the Tijas, who did not return her passport but kept it in a safe deposit box.
Yusuf began working for the Tijas immediately. Her daily duties included doing the laundry, ironing, cleaning the bathrooms, cleaning the five-bedroom home, washing the windows, cooking and sweeping the floors. Choi also had Yusuf massage her feet every day.
Yusuf sometimes left the house to accompany the Tija family to a restaurant or to the supermarket. However, she was told that she would be thrown in jail and deported if she left the house by herself. The Tijas also told her that she could be raped and that “American people would pretend to help you, but they would kill you, harvest your organs, and sell them.” The Tijas refused to allow Yusuf to take a day off, to go to the Indonesian consulate or to go to a mosque.
The Tijas mocked Yusuf’s dark skin color and Muslim religion, saying, “Don’t tell anybody that you are a Muslim because here it’s accepted that Muslim people are terrorists.” Both Tija and Choi also repeatedly called Yusuf “stupid” and scolded her for not doing her job well. In one incident, Choi turned on the shower while Yusuf was cleaning the bathtub and drenched her for no reason. Yusuf was never paid by the Tijas for her services.
After working for the Tijas for two months, Yusuf asked for help from relatives of a former employer, who then called the FBI. Sheriff’s deputies rescued Yusuf from the Tijas’ home. She then sued the Tijas for human trafficking, failure to pay minimum wage and overtime, failure to provide breaks, waiting time penalties, fraud, false imprisonment, invasion of privacy, intentional infliction of emotional distress, conversion and negligence.
After a week-long jury trial, the jury returned a verdict finding the Tijas liable for all damages in Yusuf’s complaint. The jury awarded her $257,599 in damages. The jury also found the Tijas liable for punitive damages in the amount of $250,000 each.
The Tijas asked California’s Court of Appeals to throw out the jury verdict. However, the appellate court instead ruled that the Tijas were unlawful traffickers who had the intent to obtain labor through force, fraud, or coercion.
The employee was also deprived of her personal liberty through duress because the Tijas took her passport and refused to give it back to her. She was also led to believe she would be deported because she did not have her passport and she was an illegal immigrant. Additionally, the Tijas deceived Yusuf into believing that she would be raped and her organs harvested if she tried to leave the house.
Finally, the court of appeal held that Yusuf was entitled to punitive damages because there was substantial evidence to support a finding of malice, oppression, or fraud, because the traffickers repeatedly verbally abused her, failed to pay her the promised wages, disparaged her ethnicity and religion, refused to allow her any time off and severely restricted her liberty.
In its annual report, the National Human Trafficking Resource Center (NHTRC) says that in 2015, the NHTRC received about 24,757 contacts related to human trafficking via phone calls, online tip reports, or emails. The highest percentage of contacts came from California.
Human trafficking violates criminal and employment laws. Victims should contact law enforcement for help. For a confidential consultation, they can also contact a knowledgeable employment attorney.
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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.
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C. Joe Sayas, Jr., Esq. is an experienced trial attorney who has successfully obtained significant recoveries for thousands of employees and consumers. He is named Top Labor & Employment Attorney in California by the Daily Journal, consistently selected as Super Lawyer by the Los Angeles Magazine, and is a member of the Million Dollar-Advocates Forum.