Slaves Await US Court’s Verdict

Khmer Times
Tin Sokhavuth

Keo Ratha waits at his home in Pursat province for a phone call to tell him the latest news on his court case against Thai seafood companies. KT/Mai Vireak

According to Voice of America (VOA), a US federal court in California last month issued a warrant ordering two US-based seafood companies and two Thai suppliers to defend themselves against a complaint filed by seven former Cambodian workers in Thailand.

US federal judge John F. Walter stated in the warrant that if the accused companies did not provide enough documents for the court to process the case, the court would issue a verdict in absentia in favor of the plaintiffs.

The complaint was filed in mid-June with the federal court in California’s Central District by a group of lawyers from the Cohen Millstein law firm against US companies Rubicon Resources and Wales & Co. Universe, Ltd., and Thai companies Phatthana Seafood and SS Frozen Food.

The complaint stated that the seven plaintiffs, two women and five men, were recruited by a local company between 2010 and 2012, who sent them to work for Phatthana Seafood in Thailand where they were working under conditions of “forced labor, involuntary servitude, and peonage.”

According to US law, the two US companies have already lost the right to defend themselves in federal court because the law gives them only 21 days to react against the complaint. Thai companies, however, have until the end of this month to respond to the court.

“Time to defend themselves was running out this week, but Thai companies still have until the beginning of next month to respond or talk with plaintiff lawyers due to the fact that US law only gives 21 days for [the accused to bear] testimony against the complaint,” wrote VOA.


Agnieszka Fryszman, an attorney with the Cohen Millstein law firm, said the accused companies should know very well about the labor exploitation committed by the Thai companies because many reports issued by the US State Department as well as by many human rights NGOs have mentioned this kind of abuse.

“We have evidence to confirm that the US companies should have known they were trafficking in persons,” said Ms. Fryszman.

The attorney said that her clients were good and courageous people. They just wanted to make money from hard work and bad things should not have happened to them.

“I have an enormous amount of respect for the plaintiffs in this suit. They are wonderful, dignified people. They are so hardworking. They are lovely, decent people who didn’t deserve what happened to them and I’m impressed with their courage for being willing to step up for themselves and for all other fellow citizens,” added Ms. Fryszman.

Recently, the United States implemented a new law that prohibits products made using forced labor in Thailand and has also threatened sanctions against the Southeast Asian nation.

Keo Ratha, one of the plaintiffs in the lawsuit, previously told Khmer Times that he along with more than 200 Burmese nationals and Cambodians were working in a shrimp factory. Work was like being in hell, he said, because they had to work with dangerous chemical substances.

Some workers who asked the company to improve conditions were ignored so they escaped. They were forced to work from 7am to 9pm and were only allowed a one-hour break for lunch.

Dy The Hoya, a program officer at labor rights group Central who worked on the case, said the case has been active since 2012 and that lawyers finished their search for evidence and sent the case to the US court in June.

Lawyers also filed a complaint in the Thai court system because the company’s products are made in Thailand, where they are then purchased by US companies.

“The reason for filing complaints to these four companies was because we found that Phatthana Seafood supplies products to US company Walmart, so a team of lawyers in the US is helping get compensation,” said Mr. The Hoya.

In March this year, the Golden Prize Tuna Canning factory in Thailand agreed to pay about $1.3 million in compensation to Myanmar migrant workers over exploitative working conditions. The factory produces cans of tuna in Samut Sakhon province, which are then sold to markets around the world.