Bonded Labor2005
United States US
Sung Bum Chang, owner of the Dallas club “Club Wa,” help club workers in conditions of forced labor at the karaoke club located on Walnut Hill Lane (Dallas) from December 2004 to April 26, 2005. Chang used a network that recruited women from South Korea to come to the U.S. with the promise of good jobs. Chang paid the victims’ smuggling fees, and confiscated their passports, telling them they could not leave until they had returned the money they owed him. They victims were held in the top floor of Chang’s home, and kept under constant surveillance and guard. The women would also be fined if they violated Chang’s “rules.” The victims worked as hostess in Club Wa, sitting with and entertaining customers, and encouraging them to buy more alcohol. Chang kept records of their earnings, and adjusted their debt accordingly, also including the price of their rent and food.
Bonded Labor2005
United States US
Young Jo Kwon and his wife Jessie, owners of Osaka Sushi in Denver, Colorado were accused of forcing two South Korean immigrants to work without pay. They have also been linked to the Korean mafia. The two withheld payment from the workers and threatened to get rid of their greencards and have them deported if they tried to escape.
Bonded Labor2005
United States US
ICE agents were led to her home by a package from China that was intercepted by Customs agents in San Francisco. Inside they found a phoney Chinese Passport had been hidden in a space hollowed out of a magazine. The package was destined for a woman at SHU’s University Place home. When agents arrived at the home they found a dozen people living there, many of whom worked at SHU’s Tacoma restaurant, the Rainbow Buffet. Eight of the individuals did not have legal status to remain in the United States. Interviews of these undocumented workers also disclosed that they either had not been paid for their work, or were being paid extremely low wages.
Bonded Labor2005
United States US
The family that owns this restaurant also owns one in Jacksonville, AL. They own a house near the Oxford restaurant where they keep Mexicans in poor conditions in the basement, and do not allow them to become friendly with any Americans that work at the restaurant. Their wages are strictly controlled, and they work seven days a week. If any repairs are needed in the kitchen, they wait until an item breaks, then withhold earnings until it is repaired. There is no transportation to anywhere but work, and the conditions at the house are primitive at best. Personal items are discouraged by the lack of security, no doorknobs, appliances, beds, etc. The Asian workers, who have cars and freedom, live in the upstairs portion of the house
Bonded Labor2005
United States US
JIAN ZHONG TANG, 37, used employment agencies in New York, Chicago, and California to find and employ workers for his restaurant, the New Great Wall in Tacoma, WA. The workers never filled out any paperwork related to their employment, never provided any proof of their status in the U.S. and were paid in cash. TANG admitted he knew some of the workers were not legally in the United States. TANG was sentenced to ten months in prison and three years of supervised release for Concealing and Harboring an Illegal Alien.
Bonded Labor2004
United States US
Trans Bay Steel Corporation (Napa County California) received a large sub-contract to provide services to retrofit the Bay Bridge and became the sponsoring employer for the workers. Trans Bay contracted with Kota Manpower Co., and Hi Cap Enterprises, Inc., to bring 48 skilled welders from Thailand using H-2B seasonal working visas to meet the needs of the project. While Kota and Hi-Cap brought over approximately 48 welders from Thailand, only nine of them went to work for Trans Bay. The remaining welders were brought to Los Angeles and Long Beach and forced to work without pay at Thai Restaurants owned by Kota Manpower and Hi-Cap; all 48 were not paid for their work. . Additionally, some workers were confined to cramped apartments without any electricity, water, or gas.
Bonded Labor2004
United States US
Trans Bay Steel Corporation (Napa County California) received a large sub-contract to provide services to retrofit the Bay Bridge and became the sponsoring employer for the workers. Trans Bay contracted with Kota Manpower Co., and Hi Cap Enterprises, Inc., to bring 48 skilled welders from Thailand using H-2B seasonal working visas to meet the needs of the project. While Kota and Hi-Cap brought over approximately 48 welders from Thailand, only nine of them went to work for Trans Bay. The remaining welders were brought to Los Angeles and Long Beach and forced to work without pay at Thai Restaurants owned by Kota Manpower and Hi-Cap; all 48 were not paid for their work. . Additionally, some workers were confined to cramped apartments without any electricity, water, or gas.
Bonded Labor2004
United States US
In a federal lawsuit, Typhoon! was alleged to have illegally classified the couple as exempt from overtime laws; worked them an average of 10 hours a day, six days a week, without overtime pay, for more than four years; made them perform the Klines' household chores and errands; and threatened to have them deported if they left their jobs. Once the two cooks quit Typhoon!, Steve Kline notified U.S. immigration authorities that the two chefs were no longer in compliance with the terms of their employment visas--called "E-2" visas--granted by the INS. Two weeks after quitting Typhoon!, the two chefs were arrested by the U.S. Immigration & Naturalization Service at Portland International Airport, where they had taken their baby in order to send him back to Thailand. The two chefs were held in the INS lockup from Dec. 12 to 16.