Filipino caregivers win lawsuit vs abusive employer

SAN FRANCISCO – Two Filipino caregivers are celebrating their legal victory against their employer who they say abused them for years.

Caregivers Lourdes Torres and Victoria Aquino are live-in caregivers for a San Francisco care home.

“Ang panawagan ko, baguhin ang patakaran ng mga amo ng caregiver dahil kung wala kami di rin kayo yayaman,” Torres said.

The Filipino Community Center and the National Alliance for Filipino Concerns helped the 2 file wage claims with California’s Division of Labor Standards Employment.

As live-in caregivers, Torres and Aquino say they worked on-call 24 hours, 7 days a week. They claimed they were only paid for 8 hours of work each day, caring for 6 elderly and disabled patients.

Aquino said, “Hindi kami makalabas ng bahay. Para kaming preso.”

Thanks to the free legal help of the Women’s Employment Rights Clinic, Torres and Aquino’s employer reduced their work hours to 8 hours. But, Torres and Aquino continue to work for the same employer.

By law, employers are not allowed to retaliate after their employers who file a case against them. Both caregivers continue to fight for their back wages, totaling about $120,000.

Marcie Seville of the Women’s Employment Rights Center said live-in caregivers need to know they have the right to be paid for every hour they work. If they get bothered during their sleep, they still need to be paid for that.

Both Torres and Aquino have legal immigration status. But advocates say undocumented immigrants have a right to be paid minimum wage and overtime hours, just like other workers. Balitang America
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