Filed Date: Oct. 15, 2013
Closed Date: Oct. 1, 2018
Clearinghouse coding complete
This case is part of the series of Signal International cases. It was consolidated with Achari v. Signal International and continues on that page.
On Oct. 15, 2013, two Indian guestworkers filed suit in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi for harm suffered as a result of an allegedly fraudulent and coercive employment recruitment scheme. Plaintiffs filed this suit after District Judge Jay Zainey denied class certification on Jan. 3, 2012 in a related case, David v. Signal International.
Plaintiffs claimed that they were brought into the United States to provide labor and services to defendant, Signal International, a company providing repairs to offshore oil rigs based in Pascagoula, Mississippi, with operations in the Gulf Coast region. The complaint alleged that plaintiffs paid Signal's recruiters as much as $16,000 for travel, visa, and recruitment fees, but upon arrival in the United States discovered that they would not receive the green cards promised to them. Instead, plaintiffs were forced to pay additional fees ($1,050 per month) to live in racially-segregated labor camps and were subject to squalid living conditions and threats of both legal and physical harm if they complained about the conditions or decided not to provide labor.
Represented by private counsel, plaintiffs alleged violations of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act (18 U.S.C. § 1589 et seq.) and the Civil Rights Act of 1866 (42 U.S.C. § 1981), as well as claims for fraud, fraudulent misrepresentation, negligent misrepresentation, and breach of contract.
In Mar. 2014, the Court (Chief U.S. District Judge Louis Guirola, Jr.) transferred this case to the Eastern District of Louisiana. On Apr. 24, 2014, Judge Susie Morgan ordered that this case be consolidated with the Achari case.
This case continues at the case page for Achari.
Summary Authors
Anna Dimon (5/12/2015)
Soojin Cha (10/30/2016)
Ava Morgenstern (12/2/2017)
David v. Signal International, LLC, Eastern District of Louisiana (2008)
Achari v. Signal International, LLC, Eastern District of Louisiana (2013)
Guirola, Louis Jr. (Mississippi)
Knowles, Daniel E. III (Louisiana)
Morgan, Susie [Sue, Donna] (Louisiana)
Abdelkarim, Mostafa M. (District of Columbia)
Adams, Daniel D. (New York)
Alshak, Ryan J. (California)
Arvelo, Jose E. (District of Columbia)
Asher, Joshua D. (District of Columbia)
Baker, H. Gregory (New York)
Batchelor, Craig Alan (New York)
Guirola, Louis Jr. (Mississippi)
Knowles, Daniel E. III (Louisiana)
Morgan, Susie [Sue, Donna] (Louisiana)
Abdelkarim, Mostafa M. (District of Columbia)
Adams, Daniel D. (New York)
Alshak, Ryan J. (California)
Arvelo, Jose E. (District of Columbia)
Asher, Joshua D. (District of Columbia)
Baker, H. Gregory (New York)
Batchelor, Craig Alan (New York)
Beaudette, Katelyn M. (New York)
Beckles, Tricia (New York)
Bhargava, Michael (District of Columbia)
Blechman, Michael (New York)
Blum, Ronald G. (New York)
Broad, Eric Marshall (New York)
Bullerman, Michael S. (New York)
Byrd, Sibyl C. (Mississippi)
Campbell, Benton J (New York)
Capasso, Daniele J. (District of Columbia)
Case, Andrew (New York)
Chandrika, Sarah C. (New York)
Chatham, Asra A. (Florida)
Chen, Eric B. (California)
Churchill, Mark H. (District of Columbia)
Clark, Scott W. (Texas)
Colby, Eben P. (Massachusetts)
Copley, Steven W. (Louisiana)
Diaz, Sadie Holzman (New York)
Fabrikant, Robert (District of Columbia)
Gianna, Dominic Joseph (Louisiana)
Gimblett, Jonathan (District of Columbia)
Grabill, Meredith S. (Louisiana)
Greenberg, Jennifer (New York)
Grimsal, A. Gregory (Louisiana)
Harris, Christopher R. (New York)
Howard, Jacob W. (Mississippi)
Johnson, Danielle E. (District of Columbia)
Kanny, Matthew P. (California)
Kline, Robert M. (Florida)
Krumm, Marissa C. (Florida)
Lacks, Jeremy R. (New York)
Low, John C. (Texas)
Lugerner, Andrew Richard (New York)
McDuff, Robert B. (Mississippi)
Mehta, Mona (District of Columbia)
Parver, Jane W. (New York)
Plexousakis, Renee E. (New York)
Raptis, Stephen T. (District of Columbia)
Rheinheimer, Christopher A. (California)
Romey, Michael A. (California)
Rosenbaum, Yonina (New York)
Rostoker, Jessica D. (New York)
Rowen, Zachary L. (New York)
Rowland, Elizabeth C. (New York)
Ruthberg, Miles N. (New York)
Safane, Aaron M. (New York)
Salerno, Matthew S. (New York)
Sherman, Randolph S. (New York)
Simshauser, Peter (Massachusetts)
Soule, Rebekah L. (New York)
Spears, Steven G. (Texas)
Sprague, Ashley M. (District of Columbia)
Stewart, Meredith B. (Louisiana)
Szivos, Thomas J. (New York)
Taffet, Eric. L. (New York)
Uhlemann, Justin B. (Florida)
Wahlquist, Grant F. (New York)
Walker, Jacob A. (Massachusetts)
Walsh, Michael R. (Massachusetts)
Werner, Daniel (Georgia)
Wilkinson, Kirk A. (California)
Willis, Jillian (District of Columbia)
Yuan, Howard H. (District of Columbia)
Bollman, Patricia Anne F. (Louisiana)
Buras, Daniel Edwin Jr. (Louisiana)
Carlisle, Arthur D. (Mississippi)
Cerniglia, Timothy W. (Louisiana)
Cornblatt, James L. (Louisiana)
Hangartner, Erin Casey (Louisiana)
Hasenkampf, Mitchell P. (Louisiana)
Keller, Robert Louis (Louisiana)
Maney, Kevin P. (Louisiana)
Rabbani, Elham (Louisiana)
Roux, Brian C. (Louisiana)
Rydberg, Lance R. (Louisiana)
Shapiro, Stephen H. (Louisiana)
Ungar, Hal D. (Louisiana)
Weinberger, Alan Dean (Louisiana)
Davis, Lauren Masur (Louisiana)
Aiello, Justin P. (Florida)
Last updated May 11, 2022, 8 p.m.
Docket sheet not available via the Clearinghouse.State / Territory: Louisiana
Case Type(s):
Special Collection(s):
Signal International Guest Worker Cases
Key Dates
Filing Date: Oct. 15, 2013
Closing Date: Oct. 1, 2018
Case Ongoing: No
Plaintiffs
Plaintiff Description:
2 Indian guestworkers fraudulently recruited to work in the U.S.
Plaintiff Type(s):
Attorney Organizations:
Public Interest Lawyer: No
Filed Pro Se: No
Class Action Sought: No
Class Action Outcome: Not sought
Defendants
Dewan Consultants (Substantial Business Contacts with New Orleans, LA), Private Entity/Person
Global Resources, Inc., Private Entity/Person
Gulf Coast Immigration Law Center (New Orleans, LA), Private Entity/Person
Law Offices of Malvern C. Burnett (New Orleans, LA), Private Entity/Person
Malvern C. Burnett (New Orleans, LA), None
Sachin Dewan (Substantial Business Contacts with New Orleans, LA), None
Signal International, Inc. (Pascagoula, MS), Private Entity/Person
Case Details
Causes of Action:
Trafficking Victims Protection Act (TVPA), 18 U.S.C. § 1589
Availably Documents:
Outcome
Prevailing Party: Plaintiff
Nature of Relief:
Source of Relief:
Form of Settlement:
Amount Defendant Pays: 5,000,000
Issues
General:
Food service / nutrition / hydration
Sanitation / living conditions
Discrimination-area:
Harassment / Hostile Work Environment
Other Conditions of Employment (including assignment, transfer, hours, working conditions, etc)
Discrimination-basis:
National origin discrimination
Race:
Type of Facility:
Immigration/Border:
Temporary foreign workers program
National Origin/Ethnicity: