The suit seeks an unspecified amount of damages for back pay and overtime from defendants Dhanbir Saluja, a doctor, and real estate agent Harjit "Potee" Saluja.
Monika Akka, one of the two maids, alleges in the 25-page suit that she was paid $150 per month for the 11 years that she worked for the Salujas. Leela Kumari, who was hired in 2005, said she was paid $300 per month to perform a variety of tasks.
Akka and Kumari were both recruited in India by Potee Saluja's mother Mohini Singh, who is also named as a defendant in the lawsuit. They were required to work seven days a week, from 6 am to 11 pm, according to papers filed with the US District Court for the eastern District of New York. Their duties included housekeeping, cooking, landscaping, cleaning unoccupied homes that Potee Saluja was selling and assisting construction workers.
The maids also performed clerical tasks and distributed real estate fliers. They allegedly washed the Salujas' dogs and their three cars, shoveled snow, and cleaned out the sewage systems and rain gutters of the Saluja home.
The maids were not allowed to cook inside the home, but had to prepare food in an unheated garage, according to the suit.
When the Salujas threw parties in their home, Akka and Kumari allegedly cooked and served all the food and cleaned up, often staying awake until 2 am, thus working a 20-hour day. Neither were allowed time off or allowed to leave the home, according to the suit.
The two maids finally fled the Salujas' home in June 2008.
Amy Hong, a staff attorney with the Legal Aid Society, which is representing Kumari and Akka, told India-West that the scope of the maids' work was not defined prior to coming to the US.
And while both had agreed to a rate of pay with Mohini Singh, New York state labour laws stipulate that all employees must be paid a minimum wage of $7.25 per hour, with time and a half for overtime, said Hong, adding that the Salujas never met the minimum wage requirements.
While the suit does not state an amount to be compensated, India-West estimates, based on straight wages without overtime,that Akka should have been paid $348,000 for her 11 years of service. But Akka alleged she received between $1,000 and $7,000 per year – paid directly to her family in India – which would amount to about $275,000 short of the wages she should have received.
Kumari received $3,600 per year for two years, but should have received $64,000, not including overtime, according to India-West estimates.
The suit alleges that Kumari was forced to tell immigration authorities that she only planned to stay in the US for six months. Both Akka and Kumari had their passports confiscated by the Salujas, according to the suit.
Christopher Ho, senior staff attorney at the Legal Aid Society-Employment Law Center in San Francisco, told India-West that – regardless of arrangements made in the home country of foreign workers – employers in the US are required to pay minimum wage to their employees. Domestic worker abuse is a very underreported condition, he said.
At press time, Potee Saluja had not returned several phone calls placed to her cell phone. She told the New York Post that she was "shocked" by the lawsuit.
"It just doesn't pay to be good to some people," Saluja said.
In August 2010, New York State adopted the Domestic Workers' Bill of Rights, which guarantees nannies, maids, cooks and others one day off per week, overtime pay, sick pay and protection from discrimination.
- Sunita Sohrabji, India-West
Courtecy: Times Of India
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