US court affirms $1.8-M penalty vs. Pinay recruiter

CHICAGO – A United States court has affirmed the ruling against a Filipina recruiter who was ordered to pay an estimated $1.8 million in illegally charged placement fees for allegedly "cheating" over 300 Filipino teachers. According to a news release issued by Les Landon, Director of Public Relations of the Baton Rouge-based Louisiana Federation of Teachers (LFT), aside from the $1.8-M penalty, Lourdes “Lulu" Navarro was also ordered to pay $500 fine and $7,500 in attorney fees. Navarro, owner of Los Angeles, California-based Universal Placement International (UPI), allegedly cheated 200 Filipino teachers of thousands of dollars in recruiting fees and held them in "virtual servitude" for keeping their visas. The complaints against UPI and Navarro were filed in 2009 on behalf of about 360 Filipinos who were hired in Caddo Parish, East Baton Rouge Parish, Jefferson Parish and the State Recovery School District in New Orleans. East Baton Rouge Parish Court Judge Janice Clark of the 19th Judicial District issued on April 28 an order affirming the decision of Louisiana Workforce Commission Administrative Law Judge Shelly Dick issued on April 14, 2010. Clark upheld the ruling against UPI and Navarro in January this year. However, it was only last week that a written judgment was issued after the attorneys for Navarro and the Filipino teachers were unable to agree on language concerning the decision. “This is a validation of the rule of law, and of the commitment by the State of Louisiana to protect the rights of all working people," said LFT President Steve Monaghan. “We are elated that justice was delivered for these teachers and a strong message was sent to those who might be tempted to profit from such a despicable business," Monaghan said. When some of those teachers arrived in the US, there were reportedly no jobs waiting for them as promised. Others allegedly ended up working in far-off Avoyelles Parish and other school districts around the state. Navarro was charged with exacting $5,000 from each teacher in job placement fees and obligating each teacher to sign a contract to pay Navarro 10 percent of their second-year salaries. If the teachers could not afford to pay the fees up front, they were directed to loan companies by Navarro and charged exorbitant interest rates, the court noted. Navarro's defense In phone interview last year, Navarro said under a Louisiana law, recruiters like her are entitled to collect a maximum of 25 percent from the first-year salary of every Filipino teacher she successfully recruited to Louisiana. Navarro said she collected only 10 percent of the teacher’s first-year and second-year salaries. “What’s wrong if I collect ten percent on the first year and another ten 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 the service fees to two years," Navarro explained. Under Louisiana Workforce Commission’s Private Employment Informational Booklet (Louisiana Revised Statute, Title 23, Section 101), a job applicant, who gains employment in Louisiana, shall pay an “employment service the maximum of $25,000 and up and shall never exceed 25% (of the year’s gross earning)." "...In no case shall the full amount of the fee be mandatorily payable sooner than 30 days from the date of employment," the statute says. - VVP, GMA News