HONOLULU: A federal judge has ruled that a California-based labour contractor must pay US$8.7 million (286.1 million baht) in damages to Thai workers who were exploited while working at Hawaii farms, but it's not clear whether any of them will get the money.
Thai workers on a farm in Hawaii. The US government refused to prosecute on human trafficking charges but lawyers took up the case and the courts have rule the workers were abused and exploited. (AFP photo)
Mordechai Orian, former president of Global Horizons, said on Monday the Los Angeles company is no longer in business and has no way of paying.
"We will fight this ridiculous decision," he said, calling the amount "insane".
Mr Orian continued to deny workers were mistreated.
"We paid those guys to the last penny they worked for," he said. "We tried to keep legal farming in the United States alive, and this is the thanks we get."
The US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) filed a federal lawsuit in 2011 against Global Horizons and six Hawaii farms.
It alleged workers were subjected to discrimination, uninhabitable housing, insufficient food, inadequate wages and deportation threats. Five farms settled for a total of $3.6 million.
US District Judge Leslie Kobayashi issued the ruling against the Global Horizons contractor on Friday.
Thai recruits of Global Horizons working a farm in Hawaii. (Photo by LA Criminal Defense Lawyer Blog)
Anna Park, EEOC trial attorney in Los Angeles, said the agency is pleased but the next challenge will be getting money from Global Horizons.
Judge Kobayashi ruled previously that the company is liable for the discrimination and abuse of the workers.
The contractor sought impoverished Thai nationals, whom they stereotyped to be docile and compliant, the EEOC said, and charged them fees ranging from $9,500 to $26,000.
The workers were given overcrowded housing often infested with bed bugs, and some workers resorted to making primitive slingshots so they could catch chickens to eat, the agency said.
Judge Kobayashi's ruling awards $150,000 each for 82 claimants, coming from the $3.6 million in settlements and the $8.7 million Global Horizons is liable for.
She found the last remaining farm that didn't settle — Maui Pineapple Co — is jointly liable for $8.1 million of the $8.7 million.
"The big question is whether they'll ever see any of it," Clare Hanusz, an attorney who represents a large group of the workers with their immigration matters. AP
Long after it was criticised publicly and sued in US courts, Global Horizons continued in denial that it abused or exploited workers it recruited from Thailand