By JOSEPH G. LARIOSA

(Journal Group Link International)

C HICAGO, Illinois (JGLi) -- A Filipino recruiter had been charged before the Louisiana Workforce Commission and the Louisiana Attorney General’s office in Baton Rouge Wednesday (Oct. 28) with cheating 200 Filipino teachers thousands of dollars in recruiting fees and held them in virtual servitude for keeping their visas, according to Steve Monaghan, president of the Louisiana Federation of Teachers. The recruiter had been convicted and jailed for money laundering in California and convicted of the same offense in New Jersey.

“The alleged behavior of this recruiter and the treatment of these teachers are quite frankly disgusting and an affront to basic American values,” Mr. Monaghan told a press conference as he announced the filing of the charges by the LFT and the American Federation of Teachers against Lourdes “Lulu” or “Linda” S. Navarro of the Universal Placement International Inc., which has offices in Los Angeles, California, and Quezon City in the Philippines.

Les Landon, LFT director of public relations, provided this news agency a copy of the seven-page complaint filed by Dan McNeil, the lawyer working on the case for AFT.

The Filipino teachers are working at Caddo Parish, East Baton Rouge Parish, Jefferson Parish and New Orleans (Recovery School District.

The Universal is also accused of operating in Louisiana as “a private employment services” although it has no license to operate. The complaint alleged that if Universal applied for a license to operate in the state, the license would have been denied because the state requires the licensee to “certify that he has not been convicted of a crime or to explain the circumstances of such conviction.”

In 2000, Ms. Navarro was convicted in California of health benefits (Medical) fraud, grand theft, identity theft, money laundering, forged identification and white collar crime, victimizing unsuspecting doctors, in the amount of more than $1-million and was originally sentenced to five years in prison and to pay $200,000 in restitution. She was also convicted of money laundering in New Jersey in 1993.

“We are seeking all appropriate remedies available under the statute against Universal, including restitution, fines, jail time, debarment, a declaration that all contracts executed by Universal with teachers working in Universal are void ab initio and attorneys’ fees,” according to the complaint.

The teachers paid at least $15,000 each to Universal to get their jobs and they have to pay an additional fee of 10% of their salaries from two to up to five years to Universal.

The complaint seeks all appropriate remedies available under the statute against Universal, including restitution, fines, jail time, debarment, a declaration that all contracts executed by Universal with teachers working in Universal are void ab initio and attorneys’ fees.

T he teachers had to take out “predatory loans charging interest rates of 3-5% monthly.” Ms. Navarro and her bother, Emilio Villarba of the PAR’S International Placement Agency in Quezon City, referred the teachers to specific lending agencies. The teachers were forced to make payment in cash, and received handwritten receipts. Other teachers had to sell their cars, mortgage homes, and borrow from friends and family. One sold a steer.

The amount of $15,000 is higher than the $10,000 collected from each of the 273 Filipino teachers imported by three Filipinos, who were charged in court in Texas in 2007.

One of the most outspoken teachers, Ingrid Cruz, 30, was sued by Ms. Navarro for libel on suspicion that she initiated an Internet blog that exposed “Navarro’s cruelty and the agency’s abuses.” The case, which was filed in a Los Angeles Superior Court, was later dismissed as the judge ruled that the blog is a “constitutionally protected forum on issues imbued with public interest.”

In addition to collecting the fees from teachers, Ms. Navarro was paid $47,500 to recruit 25 teachers by the State Department of Education to recruit teachers for the Recovery School District in New Orleans.

Many of the teachers say they were required to pay inflated rent for housing provided by Ms. Navarro. Living four to a two-bedroom apartment, they were not allowed to choose their own roommates or to seek alternative living arrangements. They were prevented from carpooling and associating with other teachers ahead of them.

“To be a foreign national living in Louisiana, facing the threat a lawsuit in California, can virtually guarantee acceptance of the reported indignities imposed by Lulu Navarro and Universal,” said Mr. Monaghan.

 “As soon as the shackles of these illicit contracts are legally voided, we believe that other migrant educators will come forward with additional complaints,” Mr. Monaghan said.

The 200 Filipino educators are part of an estimated 6,000 teachers brought in to the U.S. to fill hard-to-staff jobs in subjects such as math, foreign languages and special education. There are about 19,000 migrant foreign teachers who are now working in the United States.

T he union is asking for restitution for the teachers, fines and appropriate criminal penalties for principals of Universal, a declaration that all the contracts executed by Universal are void, and attorneys’ fees.

Aside from state violations, Ms. Navarro and Universal are facing federal immigration law violations for charging teachers applying for H-1B visas, which must be paid by the employers.

The 200 Filipino teachers are part of an estimated 6,000 educators brought in to the U.S. to fill hard-to-staff jobs in subjects such as math, foreign languages and special education. There are about 19,000 migrant teachers who are now working in the nation.

Navarro did not return a call seeking comment.

(lariosa_jos@sbcglobal.net) # # #

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