| Subject: Sony Legal VP Charged With Slavery |
Author:
Betty
|
[
Next Thread |
Previous Thread |
Next Message |
Previous Message
]
Date Posted: 10:59:38 09/06/04 Mon
In reply to:
Betty
's message, "Sony Legal VP Charged With Slavery" on 10:54:13 09/06/04 Mon
LOS ANGELES, California (AP) -- A Filipino woman who won a $825,000 lawsuit claiming a Hollywood executive and his wife enslaved her called Thursday for an end to human trafficking.
"Slavery still exists, and I want to tell victims they should not tolerate it and should not be afraid to seek help," Nena Ruiz said at a news conference.
Last week a jury awarded Ruiz, 60, back wages and punitive damages, finding James and Elizabeth Jackson liable for involuntary servitude, false imprisonment, invasion of privacy, negligence and fraud. Elizabeth Jackson also was held liable for assault and battery.
Ruiz is a former schoolteacher from the Philippines who worked as a maid for the couple. James Jackson is vice president of legal affairs for Sony Pictures Entertainment.
In a lawsuit filed last year, Ruiz claimed the Jacksons took her passport away and paid her $300 for a year's work at their Culver City condominium.
Ruiz said she often worked 18 hours a day and was forced to do strange household chores such as heating chicken nuggets and cutting up bananas or pears for the couple's two dogs while she was fed leftovers and slept in a dog bed.
Ruiz also alleged that Elizabeth Jackson repeatedly slapped her and pulled her hair.
She finally left the couple to stay with a neighbor in the condominium complex.
The U.S. attorney's office has begun a criminal investigation into possible civil rights violations.
The Jacksons, who have denied the charges, filed for bankruptcy protection days before the lawsuit trial began. Their attorneys have asked the judge to overturn the punitive damage award and indicated they may appeal the entire case.
Sony Pictures spokeswoman Susan Tick said she could not immediately comment on the case.
Ruiz, who is seeking a waiver to remain in the United States, said she hopes her case sheds light on other immigrants who may be held against their will.
"I want others who are enslaving people to know that they could have the same future as the Jacksons," she said.
The U.S. Department of Justice estimates more than 15,000 people are trafficked to the United States each year, many to work as sex slaves or in restaurants or domestic positions.
Traffickers often play on immigrants' fear of authorities by threatening to turn them over to police if they complain, Kay Buck, executive director of the Coalition to Abolish Slavery & Trafficking, a group that has helped Ruiz become certified as a nursing assistant.
[
Next Thread |
Previous Thread |
Next Message |
Previous Message
]
| |
Feedback: 