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Bet Tzedek and O’Melveny & Myers Prevail in Landmark Civil Human Trafficking Trial,- Reuters
Date: 11/3/09
Reuters reports: "A jury in Los Angeles Superior Court awarded $768,000, including $500,000 in punitive damages, to a domestic worker who brought suit against her former employers under California's civil human trafficking statute, it was announced today [November 3rd] by poverty law firm Bet Tzedek Legal Services, which prosecuted the case alongside pro bono counsel from O'Melveny & Myers LLP. The verdict is believed to be the first case adjudicated under Civil Code 52.5, the California Trafficking Victims Protection Act . . . . According to [the plaintiff, Suminarti Sayuti Yusuf] and the evidence presented at trial, Tjia and Choi [her employers] confiscated Yusuf`s passport, withheld all pay, required her to work 16-hour days, seven days a week, and never permitted her to leave the house to pray at a mosque or visit the Indonesian consulate [after she was brought her from Indonesia in 2006 by Tija's father] . . . . Ultimately, Yusuf was able to contact an acquaintance in another state of her circumstances who, in turn, notified authorities. The authorities prosecuted the Tjias criminally. Tjia and Choi subsequently pleaded guilty to criminal human trafficking and false imprisonment charges setting the way for the civil action in which Yusuf prevailed at trial on all nine causes of action in the complaint, including the anti-trafficking statute . . . . ‘This jury`s decision resoundingly shows that the law worked and justice was delivered for the most poor, vulnerable and voiceless client,' said Kevin Kish, director of Bet Tzedek`s Employment Rights Project, who tried the case. ‘The award sends the clearest possible message that Ms. Yusuf was, pure and simple, the victim of slavery, and human trafficking in any form is unacceptable and will not be tolerated.' O`Melveny Partner Paul McNamara, trial co-counsel, stated: ‘The verdict sets a new standard for enforcement of this law and establishes precedent under a never-before litigated measure.'"
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