Teachers' recruiter to contest US court ruling

The recruiter of Filipino teachers in Louisiana ordered by a court to repay $1.8 million in illegally charged placement fees cried foul and vowed to contest the ruling. Lourdes Navarro, owner of Los Angeles-based Universal Placement International, accused the American Federation of Teachers and the Louisiana Federation of Teachers (LFT) of discrimination, saying she felt singled out on the matter of recruitment fees. The Louisiana Workforce Commission ordered UPI in an April 16 decision to pay some 200 Filipino teachers in Louisiana about $1.8 million in illegally charged placement fees. Navarro, however, said Louisiana law entitles recruiters to collect up to 25 percent of the first year’s salary of the recruited teachers, and argued she was collecting only 10 percent the first and second years’ salary of the Filipino teachers. Title 23, section 101 of the Louisiana Revised Statute states a job applicant who gains employment in that state shall pay an “employment service the maximum of $25,000 and shall never exceed 25% (of the year’s gross earning)… but in no case shall the full amount of the fee be mandatorily payable sooner than 30 days from the date of employment." “What’s wrong if I collect 10 percent on the first year and then another 10 percent on the second year? If you sum them up, my staggered payment is only equivalent to a maximum of 20 percent of the first year. I wanted to make it affordable for my recruit to pay me my service fees that is why I am spreading it [over] two years," Navarro said in a phone interview. In their complaint, the teachers said they were charged about $5,000 by Navarro in placement fees to obtain a job, and was then made to sign a contract obligating them to pay 10 percent of their salaries on the their first and second years. According to the LFT, this violates Louisiana labor laws which limit employment service fess to the applicant’s first year’s gross earnings. The complaint also cited the teachers’ visas were taken by the recruitment agency, while some of them were brought to the US only to find that the promised jobs were not available. She denied the allegation. “At no time whatsoever did UPI ever withhold any visa of any teacher recruited," Navarro said. Navarro said she will contest the decision, which has been referred to appropriate authorities for criminal sanctions against her and UPI. —VS, GMANews.TV