US-based Pinoy guard wins lawsuit vs employer, gets $425,000

A 73-year-old US-based Filipino security guard has received $425,000 after he won in a lawsuit against his employer, according to a report on Asian Journal’s news site. Ernesto Salamante was hired by a jewelry distributor in Los Angeles and was forced to work 24/7 with no overtime pay for more than eight years, according to the report. The report said Salamante’s employer provided him a trailer for his living accommodations inside the compound “in an obvious attempt” to make him work beyond the eight-hour shift without overtime pay. It also said Salamante was prodded to accept a monthly salary instead of wages based on an hourly basis, and was even made to clean the compound’s yard in the morning and evening. Without proper information on his labor rights, Salamante consulted the Division of Labor Standards and Enforcement, which recommended that he hire a lawyer, the report said. Salamante got the service of Joe Sayas, reportedly a prominent Filipino lawyer in the Glendale area. The original lawsuit only covered employment laws, but Sayas also invoked California’s Elder Abuse Act, noting Salamante’s age. “What started as a claim for wages became a more serious case of elderly financial abuse. In addition to wages owed, this legal strategy opened the way for claims of emotional distress,” the report said. After years of court hearings, with Salamante’s employer filing petitions before the Court of Appeals and the Supreme Court, the final ruling favored him. - Rouchelle Dinglasan/KBK, GMA News