LOUISIANA - More than 350 Filipino teachers hired to work in Louisiana public schools filed a class action against their recruiters, Los Angeles-based Universal Placement International and Manila-based PARS International Placement Agency.
The Filipino teachers said they were cheated out of tens of thousands of dollars and forced to sign contracts that exploited them.
The federal lawsuit was filed before the US District Court-Central California by the American Federation of Teachers, Southern Poverty Law Center and the Law Offices of Covington and Burling.
The lawsuit accuses officials of Universal and its sister organization, PARS, of human trafficking, racketeering and fraud.
Defendants are Lourdes Navarro, owner and president of Universal, Jack Navarro, director of Universal, and Emilio Villarba, director of PARS.
In 2007, Filipino teachers were hired to work in various school districts in Louisiana. The
