Fil-Am businesswoman faces human trafficking raps

NEW YORK – A Filipina American businesswoman once lauded as among the top Asian American entrepreneurs in the country faces a lawsuit in federal court accusing her of human trafficking, labor-law violations and other offenses.
 
Marissa Teves Beck, president of the New York-based medical staffing company Advanced Professional Marketing Inc., held Lester Lee Javier in “indentured servitude,” paying him less than half the prevailing wage and refusing to pay him for overtime, the victim’s attorney said.
 
John Howley, the lawyer representing Javier, also alleged that Beck illegally charged his client thousands of dollars in fees for an H-1B visa application, which is required for a foreign national to legally work in the United States. Then she kept Javier from asserting his rights by threatening to withdraw that application, Howley said.
 
The accusations are detailed in Javier’s suit filed in New York Southern District Court on May 1. The suit also names Beck’s husband, Henry, and six of the couple’s companies as defendants. The case could go to trial in March or April.
 
“The Becks took advantage of Lester Javier and other young and naïve Filipino health-care workers,” Howley told Philippine News. “They promised to get them H-1B visas, but instead of doing that, they charged them thousands of dollars.”
 
In his complaint, Javier alleged that the Becks use their employees at different companies depending on the couple’s personal needs. For instance, when the Becks did not have enough work for Javier in the physical-therapy field, they allegedly refused to pay him. But to earn a living, the complaint said, Javier had to work as a dishwasher, delivery boy and cook at one of the Becks’ restaurants for low pay.
 
The suit further contended that Beck has a track record for mistreating non-immigrant workers and is in violation of a previous federal court ruling that prohibits her from committing future offenses under the Fair Labor Standards Act’s overtime and recordkeeping provisions.
 
In 2008, the federal Department of Labor charged Beck and her Advanced Professional Marketing firm with violating the H-1B program. An investigation found that 156 guest workers from the Philippines brought to the U.S. by the company to be employed primarily as physical therapists were owed nearly $3 million in back wages.
 
A year later, Beck agreed to pay 247 then-current and former employees a total of $211,120 in back wages and interest to resolve a suit filed by the Labor Department. This suit stemmed from an investigation revealing that employees were often required to work more than 40 hours in a week without being compensated properly for overtime.
 
Javier’s suit shows that Beck has continued to violate the Fair Labor Standards Act, Howley said, and “she should be held accountable. The U.S. Department of Labor is aware of our lawsuit, and we are talking to them.”
 
Labor Department representatives could not immediately confirm whether the agency is monitoring Javier’s case. But department spokeswoman Sonia Melendez said the agency would not be able to comment anyway if it has indeed opened up another investigation on Beck.
 
Calls and an email seeking comment from Beck’s legal counsel were not returned by press deadline.
 
In 2004, Beck received an Entrepreneurial Leadership Award from the Asian Women In Business, a New York-based nonprofit. She was cited for being an exemplary achiever in her field and an active community member.
 
Information from the nonprofit’s website noted that at that time Beck’s Advanced Professional Marketing employed 280 full-time and 50 part-time physical therapists serving in health clinics, nursing homes, doctors’ offices and hospitals, and had about $6 million in revenues.
 
Beck – who trained as a nurse in the Philippines - settled in the U.S. in 1971, the website said. Over the years, she helped physical therapists get jobs, and chiropractors and clinics started seeking her out for referrals. In 1998, she decided to start a business placing Filipino physical therapists in American jobs.
 
“A visit to Marissa's office makes it clear that her employees are part of an extended family,” the website said. “This year alone (2004), she will be getting 70-80 physical therapists from the Philippines and she takes care of them financially until they are placed in an appropriate position and become self-supporting. As part of her desire to help people, she is involved with the Bulacan Medical Association, which sponsors medical missions to serve the needy.” - Philippine News