About The Case
Two U.S. Law Firms Are Representing Filipino Migrant Workers Exploited in Qatar While They Helped Build Infrastructure for the 2022 FIFA Men’s World Cup.
Thousands of Overseas Foreign Workers from the Philippines were recruited by employment agencies to travel to Qatar to help build stadiums and other infrastructure for the FIFA World Cup. Many of these workers were unfairly exploited by the employment agencies and their direct and indirect employers in Qatar. They may have been denied permission to leave the country, had their passports confiscated, and/or paid high fees to secure their jobs. U.S. federal law allows these workers to sue employers who benefitted unfairly and unjustly from these inhuman labor practices.
Dalawang U.S Law Firms ang nagrerepresenta sa mga dayong manggagawang Pilipino na inabuso sa Qatar habang sila ay tumutulong sa pagpapatayo ng imprastruktura para sa 2022 FIFA World Cup.
Kinakatawan ng aming mga tanggapan ng pang batas na serbisyo ang mga manggagawang Pilipino sa ibang bansa na nagtrabaho sa mga proyekto ng World Cup sa Qatar. Kami ay naghain ng kaso sa U.S. Federal Court na nagsasabing ang mga kumpanyang Amerikano na nakipag-ugnayan sa mga kumpanyang Qatari na syang nag-empleyo ng mga manggagawang Pilipino ay lumabag sa batas ng U.S.
Ang aming mga kliyente ay nagsasabing nakilahok ang mga kumpanyang Amerikano sa mga proyektong konstruksiyon sa World Cup at alam ng mga ito o dapat ay alam ng mga ito na ang mga proyekto ay lumabag sa mga kasanayan sa paggawa. Sinasabi ng aming mga kliyente na ang kanilang mga pasaporte ay kinuha at itinago hanggang sa matapos ang kanilang kontrata, na ang mga kumpanyang Qatari ay hindi sumusunod sa lahat ng tuntunin ng mga kontrata na kanilang nilagdaan sa Pilipinas, na ang kanilang mga kalagayan sa pamumuhay at pagtatrabaho ay hindi ligtas at hindi makatao, na ang kanilang kalusugan at kaligtasan ay nalagay sa panganib, na hindi sila nakatanggap ng sahod na ipinangako sa kanila, at na may ilang nasaktan sa trabaho.
Ang kaso ay isinampa sa U.S. District Court noong Oktubre 12, 2023 sa ngalan ng 38 manggagawa. Ang aming mga kliyente ay nagsumite ng kanilang mga reklamo sa ilalim ng batas ng Estados Unidos na tinatawag na Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act. Ang mga manggagawa ay humihiling ng isang paglilitis sa pamamagitan ng isang jury upang matukoy kung ano ang makatarungan na kabayaran para sa kanilang mga naranasan sa Qatar.
Inaasahan ng aming tanggapan na madadagdagaan pa ang mga manggagawa sa mga kasong katulad nito. Kami ay naniniwala na libu-libong manggagawang Pilipino mula 2013 hanggang 2022 na nagtrabaho sa Qatar ay maaaring kumwalipika na sumali. Kung sa tingin mo na maaring mag-qualify ka na sumali sa kaso, mangyaring pumunta sa “Contact” na pahina sa website na ito at magpadala ng mensahe sa WhatsApp o punan ang form at isumite ito. Isa sa aming mga abogado ang makikipag-ugnayan sa iyo upang tingnan kung maaari kang sumali sa kaso at ipapaliwanag kung ano ang mga hakbang na gagawin sa legal na proseso.
U.S. Firms Have Joined Forces to Combat Unfair and Dangerous Labor Practices.
It is shameful that well into the 21st century the world is still experiencing widespread human trafficking and forced labor. Every nation has explicit laws against human trafficking and forced labor yet horrendous examples abound in the modern world. Certain countries benefit from forced labor and turn a blind eye to various types of labor offenses.
Sparacino PLLC has joined forces with other firms to combat human trafficking, forced labor, and other violations where the strong and wealthy take advantage of the vulnerable.
As Hosts of the 2022 FIFA Men’s World Cup, Qatar Embarked on a Building Spree, and Relied Heavily on Migrant Labor.
Qatar is a fantastically rich country, consistently in the top ten in the world in terms of per capita income. Shortly after securing the rights to host the 2022 FIFA World Cup, Qatar embarked on an ambitious program to showcase its progress from being a poor pearl-and-fishing backwater of the British Empire to a modern, high-tech nation.
In preparation for the premier FIFA event, Qatar committed to build seven new stadiums while also updating the older Khalifa Stadium. Qatar also needed a host of new buildings and transportation infrastructure.
To recruit the cheap labor needed for the construction, Qatar relied on the “kafala” sponsorship system, which was rife with abuse and placed inordinate control in the hands of the employers. The kafala system allowed sponsors to confiscate passports, prevented workers from changing jobs without their consent, and required exit permits before workers could leave the country. Most of these restrictions were placed on “migrant” workers—mostly blue-collar workers who were more vulnerable to control and manipulation as opposed to “expatriot” workers who make up the bulk of Qatar’s white-collar management class. Human rights and labor non-governmental organizations lobbied hard for labor reforms, but kafala continued until August 2020.
Large Companies Knew They Were Violating Workers’ Human Rights Both During the ‘Kafala Era’ and After.
It is estimated that since Qatar embarked on its construction surge to prepare for the FIFA World Cup that as many as 500,000 extra migrant workers have either worked or continue to work in the country on construction projects, at hotels and restaurants, and as domestic workers. Many or most of these workers were recruited by services and agents in India, Indonesia, Nepal, Pakistan, and the Philippines. Oftentimes, the promise of salaries that would allow for the workers to repatriate most of their salaries while in Qatar rang hollow. The labor brokers charged large amounts for arranging the job, employers and/or sponsors in Qatar took “security deposits” equal to one or two months’ salary, and pay could be less than advertised. Despite the labor reforms of 2020, many workers continue to face many hurdles.
Under U.S. law, victims of human trafficking—including workers subject to certain labor practices such as passport confiscation and the inability to leave a country without an employer’s or sponsor’s permission—may sue the companies, organizations, or individuals who benefitted from those practices. The most pertinent law is the Trafficking Victims Protection Act, a law passed by the U.S. Congress in 2000 (and amended by the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act), which now includes a civil remedy enabling victims to file lawsuits against their traffickers in United States federal district court.
The Large Companies that Benefitted from Labor Exploitation in Qatar Will Face Their Day in U.S. Court.
We will seek redress from those companies that benefitted unfairly by taking advantage of workers who were seeking a good job to earn money to support their families but ended up unable to leave Qatar, or with wages less than promised, or who often worked long hours without fair compensation.