US couple who slaved Pinay pleads guilty to trafficking, forced labor

Three years after having been awarded $1.6 million in backpay and damages, a Filipina, who was lured into working in the US but worked like a slave and made to sleep on a dog’s bed while enduring both emotional and physical battery, is just a step away to getting final justice against her employers. In a press statement, the US Department of Justice said the employers of Nena Jimeno Ruiz have pleaded guilty to felony charges related to forced labor and human trafficking. In August 2004, a jury in Santa Monica has awarded Ruiz, 63, more than $1.6 million for the time that she was enslaved by James Jackson, and his wife, Elizabeth, in their Culver City condominium in 2001 and 2002. The DOJ statement said James, vice president and assistant general counsel for the corporate legal department at Sony Pictures, pleaded guilty last Tuesday to a single count of alien harboring, while his wife, who is of Filipino descent, also pleaded guilty, this time to a single count of forced labor. The Jackson couple has been scheduled for sentencing on Nov. 5, 2007. “I’m very grateful to the jurors for the wonderful judgment," the Santa Monica Daily Press quoted Ruiz as saying following a jury verdict that awarded her the money three years ago. “Now (I’m) looking forward to seeing my family who are waiting for me (in the Philippines)," she added. Ruiz was represented by lawyer Dan Stormer who helped the Filipina throughout the entire period the lawsuit was filed in 2003. “This is an important victory for Nena and an important victory for people who are exploited," Stormer said. The Jacksons were ordered by the jury to pay Ruiz $551,000 in back wages, penalty and other damages. Both Elizabeth and James also have to pay $137,872.92 each or a total of $826,745.84 all in all. Stormer explained that under the current state law, the sum would double or amount to about $1.6 million. “You can’t give her dignity back, but our system deals in dollars. Can it be $1 million? Yes. Can it be $2 million? Yes," Stormer said to the jury during the trial. The report said that Ruiz was requesting unpaid minimum wages, overtime premiums with penalties and interest, liquidated damages, general, compensatory and special damages, and punitive damages. The lawsuit alleged that Ruiz was initially told she would come as a traveling companion for Elizabeth’s ailing mother. After being given a four-month visa, Ruiz moved into the apartment in Sacramento. Since the space was allegedly “cramped," the Jacksons then implored Ruiz to stay at their Culver home. In a dog's bed Ruiz said she slept in a dog's bed on the dining room floor, was allowed only one haircut in the year she worked, prohibited to go to the doctor and talk to anyone outside the house. Stormer said that the Jacksons were simply looking for an in-house maid to serve them, which is contrary to what they promised Ruiz back in the Philippines. The Jacksons, on the other hand, claimed that they accorded Ruiz a futon pad and comforter in the guest room and was paid $400 a month. However, Ruiz said that she only received $300 for the entire year that she worked for the couple. On top of that, her list of duties also grew from house chores to brushing the dogs’ teeth and cleaning out their ears. They also ordered Ruiz to cook dinner for their pets while she is often given leftovers from three days ago to eat. In 2002, Ruiz approached a neighbor, Sandra Sheridan, who testified before the court that the Filipino worker looked visibly shaken and upset when she saw her. Physical abuse Stormer also used the testimony of Sheridan’s then 13-year-old daughter who heard someone being physically abused inside the Jacksons’ home. “I don’t have a passport, I don’t have money, and I don’t know where to go. I’d just be crying in the street. I’d be locked up, and I didn’t want that to happen to me," Ruiz said, referring to the threats of the Jacksons regarding her expired visa. James Jackson's sentence will include 200 hours of community service, including providing immigration-related legal advice for indigents, while Elizabeth faces a maximum sentence of 46 months in prison. Modern-day slavery Several US officials have expressed their firm admonition against American violators of the human trafficking law. "The Justice Department will remain dedicated to rooting out this horrible crime and prosecuting those who would enslave others," said Wan J. Kim, Assistant Attorney for the Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice. “These defendants subjected their victim to what amounts to modern-day slavery," he added. Meanwhile, Julie Myers, Homeland Security Assistant Secretary for US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) said, "No person should ever be forced to live in a world of fear, isolation and servitude, particularly in a country that prides itself on its freedoms." "Today's guilty pleas should send a message to those who traffic in human beings that ICE is committed to protecting those who cannot protect themselves," Myers added. "Freedom is the most basic of human rights and no one has the right to harbor illegal aliens and force them into labor," said Salvador Hernandez, Deputy Assistant Director for the FBI's Criminal Investigative Division. He also said that the bureau is very serious and committed in the investigation of those involved in the abuse and degradation of people’s essential rights. The Civil Rights Division, together with the US Attorneys' Offices, has increased by six-fold the number of human trafficking cases filed in court, in the last six fiscal years. Ruiz’s case was prosecuted by Special Litigation Counsel Andrew J. Kline from the Human Trafficking Prosecution Unit and Douglas Kern from the Criminal Section of the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice. It was investigated by agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and the Department of Labor. “It’s a (triumph) for domestic workers in the US," Ruiz said. - Mark J. Ubalde, GMANews.TV