Asian Americans Advancing Justice - LA

Building upon the legacy of the Asian Pacific American Legal Center

litigation

Judge Awards $15.2 Million to Exploited Filipino Workers

May 15 2016

Eleven Filipino workers were awarded over $15 million in a lawsuit against their former employers, whose claim of labor exploitation and human trafficking was uncontested

The workers were trafficked to the United States to serve as domestic servants and back-of-the-house employees at two high-end bakeries owned by defendants Analiza and Goncalo Moitinho de Almeida.

“Because of this judgment, all the heartache and suffering we had to endure because of Ana’s greed has not been for nothing,” said Gina Pablo, one of the workers.

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L.A. bakery owners ordered to pay $15.3 million for abuse of workers on visas

May 13 2016

The owners of the now-shuttered L’Amande French Bakery that operated in Beverly Hills and Torrance have been ordered to pay nearly $15.3 million in damages for exploiting 11 Filipino workers.

U.S. District Judge Fernando Olguin on May 2 granted a default judgment to the workers, who claimed they were trafficked to the United States to serve as domestic servants and under-the-table employees at two bakeries owned by defendants Analiza and Goncalo Moitinho de Almeida.

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Chinese Daily News Workers Win $7.8 Million in Wage Theft Settlement

LOS ANGELES - A diverse crowd of workers, advocates and journalists gathered at the UCLA Labor Center to celebrate a class action victory for more than 200 employees of Chinese Daily News. After more than a decade of hard fought litigation, they obtained a $7.8 million settlement against one of the leading Chinese language newspapers in the country.  This class action victory represents one of the largest wage justice settlements in Asian American history.

'I Have Freedom Now': Service Organizations Unite to Combat 'Modern Day Slavery'

Mar 8 2016

Angela Guanzon remembers learning about human trafficking growing up in the Philippines, but she never imagined that one day she would be a trafficking survivor.

"All I heard about was human or sex trafficking—not labor trafficking," Guanzon, 38, told NBC News.

After graduating from college, Guanzon struggled to find work to support her parents and five siblings. With her father's health rapidly deteriorating, she looked for opportunities outside of the Philippines. In 2005, she was recruited to work as a caretaker at a residential care facility in Long Beach, California.

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Weekend News Report: United States vs. Texas

Jan 23 2016

The Supreme Court recently decided to hear the case United States vs. Texas, which will decide whether to expand amnesty programs for undocumented immigrants. How will the decision affect the Vietnamese community in the U.S.?

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Reinforcing the Seams: Guaranteeing the Promise of California’s Landmark Anti-Sweatshop Law - An Evaluation of Assembly Bill 633 Six Years Later


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Our mission is to advocate for civil rights, provide legal services and education, and build coalitions to positively influence and impact Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders and to create a more equitable and harmonious society.