US District Judge Nina Gershon found that the nursing homes’ owners Benjamin Landa and Bent Philipson are personally liable for violations of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act. The lawsuit was brought by Rose Ann Paguirigan in March 2017 on behalf of more than 200 nurses who were recruited in the Philippines to work at Sentosa nursing homes in New York. Paguirigan also presented evidence that the nursing homes and their recruiters used threats of serious harm to keep the nurses from leaving. The Trafficking Victims Protection Act prohibits the use of threats of serious harm or abuse of legal process to obtain the labor or services of a person. In her decision, Judge Gershon wrote:“The nurses in this lawsuit were all recent arrivals from the Philippines.

Source: Philippine Star September 30, 2019 16:46 UTC