EXPLOITED WOMEN SEEK JUSTICE AT WORK
December 15, 2005

How would you like to receive $120 in monthly wages for 300 hours of work?

When your wages are protected by a union contract—and shortfalls can be reported to a union steward or business representative—it’s easy to forget the exploitation that can occur in non-union environments.

For women workers, the exploitation can be particularly vicious. Consider the case of two immigrant waitresses at a New Jersey restaurant called the Rainbow Buffet.

Mei Li and Li Wang, whose case was taken up in a recent federal lawsuit by the American Civil Liberties Union, say they worked for more than 60 hours per week for far less than minimum wage between November of 2003 and August of 2004. Each woman was paid only $120 per month in wages for nearly 300 monthly work hours.

The Rainbow Buffet management also systematically confiscated portions of the tips the waitresses received from customers.

The economic exploitation was compounded by sexual harassment. Li and Wang charge that busboys and other employees at Rainbow Buffet intentionally hit them, touched them against their will, made humiliating and menacing sexual comments and threatened them, all with the full knowledge of management, who did nothing to stop the acts. 

The ACLU suit seeks to recover all unpaid minimum wages and unpaid overtime compensation for the women, and has asked the court to award appropriate compensatory and punitive damages.

Li and Wang’s case is just one example of the sorts of abuses that women face in some of the nation’s less savory workplaces. The ACLU Women’s Rights Project is also representing two women in a case filed in 2003 against King Chef Chinese Restaurant in Wayne, New Jersey. (What is it with New Jersey, anyway?)

These women charge they were kept under the complete control of their employers, were paid no wages for their work, had to pay a daily kickback out of their tips to the restaurant owners, and faced gender and ethnicity discrimination. They further charge they were housed in an overcrowded, vermin-filled apartment and were threatened with death when they stopped working at the restaurant.