(New York)
- A Fil-Am businesswoman once recognized as among the top Asian American
entrepreneurs in the U.S faces a federal court lawsuit that accuses her of
human trafficking, labor-law violations as well as other offenses. Marissa
Teves Beck is the President of the NY-based staffing company Advanced
Professional Marketing Inc. She is charged with holding Leser Lee Javier in
“indentured servitude” paying him less than half of the prevailing wage as well
as the overtime fees owed him. John Howley is the lawyer representing Mr.
Javier and also alleges that Beck charged his client thousands of dollars in
fees for an H1-B visa application, which is the required visa for foreign
nationals to work in the country. Beck then kept Javier from asserting his
rights by threatening to withdraw his application. “The accusations are
detailed in Javier’s suit filed in New York Southern District Court on May 1.
The suit also names Beck’s husband, Henry, and six of the couple’s companies as
defendants. The case could go to trial in March or April.”
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