A Cambodian immigrant claims that her former mother-in-law lured her to the United States and then coerced her to work at several area nail salons for no pay for more than eight years.
Sovannara Oem accused Sokha Meas, of Port Jervis, other in-laws and the nail salons of human trafficking, in a complaint filed on Dec. 13 in U.S. District Court, White Plains.
Oem says her former in-laws controlled all aspects of her life: isolating her from her family in Cambodia, making her live at their homes, keeping her immigration papers under lock, and taking away her first-born daughter for years.
“Oem justifiably believed she had no alternative but to continue working for and living with defendants,” the complaint states, until “she was able to escape.”
In 2005, Oem married Meas’s son in an informal Cambodian ceremony that is not recognized as legal in the U.S., according to the complaint.
In 2006, Meas offered to pay the costs of transportation and immigration to the U.S., the complaint states, if Oem worked at Meas’s nail salons for three years. Oem moved in with her in-laws and began working at #1 Nail Plus Inc. in Port Jervis, for no pay.
A few days later, Meas took Oem and her son to the county courthouse to be married legally, as required by her visa.
Even after the three-year deal expired, Oem claims, she had to continue working for free. She worked eight to 11 hours a day, seven days a week doing pedicures and manicures and massages and foot washes and cleanups. There were no lunch breaks or rest breaks or days off.
Oem and other workers were shuttled to nail salons operated by Meas and her sister in Port Jervis, Orange County; Monticello, Sullivan County, and Taylor, Pennsylvania near Scranton, according to the complaint. The businesses operated as variations of the DaViNails franchise, #1 Nail Plus, and Raksmey Nails.
Her only compensation was $150 to $200 a week from tips, but then Meas allegedly demanded the tips to pay for utilities, food and other household expenses.
Oem was not allowed to speak to anyone outside of the family, including customers and neighbors, according to the complaint, and threatened that if she did immigration authorities would take her away.
After work, Oem says, she was forced to cook, clean, do laundry and shovel snow at her in-laws homes.
“They told her what to do and where to be at all times,” the complaint states. “Oem was not allowed to shower or sleep until she completed all her daily work.”
In 2008, Meas allegedly took Oem’s first daughter, an infant, to live with Meas’s family in Cambodia, and returned her three or four years later to attend school in the U.S.
In 2012, according to the complaint, Meas pressured Oem and her son to divorce. Meas allegedly said Oem could leave but her children would have to stay behind.
Oem’s brother, Sovanry Oem, also was trafficked, the complaint states, but in 2014 he escaped while Meas was on vacation. Then he and their family in Cambodia helped Oem escape.
Oem and her daughters now live in Katy, Texas.
Oem accused her in-laws and their businesses of several violations of federal laws, including, peonage, forced labor, and conspiracy. She is demanding unpaid wages and punitive damages.
