‘Enslaved’ Pinay gets $551,000 from court

LOS ANGELES (AFP) — A California jury on Thursday awarded $551,000 in damages to a Filipina immigrant who claimed she was kept as a domestic slave for a year by a Hollywood movie executive.

Former schoolteacher Nena Ruiz testified in a civil trial that James Jackson, Sony Pictures Entertainment’s vice president of legal affairs, and his wife refused to allow her to leave their employ, paid her a pittance and made her sleep in a dog’s bed.

"We’re very pleased," said Dan Stormer, a lawyer who represented Ruiz at the trial in the Los Angeles area of Santa Monica.

"This will send a message to all employers that they cannot exploit workers. Juries will have no hesitation in finding them liable for their bad deeds," he added.

Movie studio boss Jackson denied the allegations during the trial, telling the jury that he and his wife, Elizabeth, tried to send 61-year-old Ruiz, back to the Philippines several times but that she begged to stay.

He testified that Ruiz had come to America to care for his mother-in-law, who suffers from lymphoma, but said the couple took her in February 2001 after her original job did not work out.

Jackson’s attorneys could not immediately be reached for comment.

Ruiz told the court she had wanted to go home but that the Jacksons forced her to stay and threatened to notify a law enforcement agency if she left, the Daily Journal newspaper reported.

She also alleged the couple made her sleep in a bed designed for a dog, paid her $300 for an entire year’s work and locked up her passport, the paper reported earlier in the trial.

US federal prosecutors said earlier this month that a criminal investigation into the claims by Ruiz was underway.

Attorney Stormer said the Los Angeles Superior Court jury decided in his client’s favor on all of her claims, including involuntary servitude, false imprisonment, invasion of privacy, negligence and wage violations.

Of the total financial award made to Ruiz, $275,000 was to compensate her for the Jacksons’ failure to pay her adequately for her services, Stormer said.

The jury is scheduled to begin deliberating on whether to award any punitive damages on Friday.