Cambodian Slaves Await US Court’s Verdict against Thai company

[geovalin]

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.

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