US court finds ship repair firm Signal guilty of discriminating against & trafficking Indian workers
“Indian workers awarded millions after US firm found guilty of trafficking,” 19 Feb 2015
A New Orleans jury...awarded $14m to five Indian men who were lured to the [USA] and forced to work under inhumane conditions after Hurricane Katrina by a ship repair firm and its codefendants. After a four-week trial, the…jury ruled that…Signal...was guilty of labour trafficking, fraud, racketeering and discrimination and ordered it to pay $12m. Its co-defendants, a...lawyer and an India-based recruiter, were also found guilty and ordered to pay an additional $915,000 each. The trial was the first in more than a dozen related lawsuits with over 200 plaintiffs that together comprise one of the largest labour trafficking cases in US history…Signal said in a statement that it is weighing an appeal. “Signal strongly disagrees with rulings from the court in the case which impacted its ability to present defences and is disappointed with the verdict,” the company said...