Filipino nurses score in US human trafficking case

A federal judge in the United States has ruled that human trafficking claims against a nursing home group will proceed as a class action on behalf of more than 200 Filipino nurses.

Lawyer John Howley, counsel for Rose Ann Paguirigan, one of the plaintiffs, said the decision "is a victory for all the nurses who work so hard to take care of our loved ones."

A report on the New York Law Journal said US District Judge Nina Gershon of the Eastern District of New York approved a class that includes any nurses who have been recruited since Dec. 23, 2008.

The lawsuit alleges that the SentosaCare network used threats of abusive legal actions to force the Filipino nurses to continue working for less than prevailing wages.

SentosaCare's lawyer Elliot Hahn denied the charges and said they will appeal the class certification.

He also denied that Paguirigan was "threatened in any way."

Hahn said the defense will "vigorously defend this case."

US laws

Under US laws, employers that recruit foreign nurses under employment-based visas are required to pay them the prevailing wage to protect them from abuse and to ensure that foreign workers are not used to depress the wages of American workers.

The complaint alleges that the Sentosa group of nursing homes promised that it would pay more than 200 Filipino nurses the prevailing wage "as of the commencement date" of their employment in New York. 

However, once the nurses arrived in the US, Sentosa allegedly paid the prevailing wage as of the date the nurses’ visa applications were first submitted.

Because the visa process often takes six to eight years, the nurses were paid the prevailing wage in effect six to eight years before the date they started working. —KBK, GMA News