Thursday, August 05, 2010

Suit alleges exploitation of Filipino teachers in La. - USATODAY.com

Suit alleges exploitation of Filipino teachers in La. - USATODAY.com: Hundreds of Filipino teachers recruited to teach in Louisiana schools were thrust into massive debt, unsavory living conditions and, in effect, indentured servitude, an attorney charges in a class action lawsuit to be filed today.

About 350 teachers were recruited through a placement service for Filipinos, which the lawsuit says charged them exorbitant application fees and transportation and housing costs and demanded up to 30% of their salaries their first two years.

'It was close to slavery,' said Mary Bauer, lead attorney in the lawsuit set to be filed in federal court in Los Angeles by the Southern Poverty Law Center, the American Federation of Teachers and the law firm Covington & Burling. 'There was fraud on a number of levels here.'