Former maid claims she was treated like a dog
By GENEVA WHITMARSH Daily Press Staff Writer
SM COURTHOUSE — A jury here is expected to decide this week whether or not a Sony Pictures executive and his wife lured a woman from the Philippines to the United States, then forced her to sleep on a dog bed and work long hours with little pay.
Nema Jimeno Ruiz, 60, filed a lawsuit against James and Elizabeth Jackson in February 2003 that claimed involuntary servitude, violation of the California Labor Code, false imprisonment, invasion of privacy, fraud, assault and battery, and intentional and negligent infliction of emotional distress.
The trial began last week in Santa Monica Superior Court Judge James Bascue’s courtroom. Closing arguments are expected to be made on Tuesday.
Ruiz testified last week that she was confined to James and Elizabeth Jackson’s Culver City home for more than a year, during which time she was allegedly forced to work as a domestic servant for more than 18 hours a day, seven days a week. Ruiz was paid approximately $300 for the time she worked, according to the lawsuit.
James Jackson is employed as the vice president and assistant general counsel for the corporate legal department at Sony Pictures. Elizabeth Jackson is of Filipino descent.
Ruiz tearfully told jurors last week that she was forced to sleep on a dog bed in the dining room and work long hours without pay — one of the chores included brushing the dog’s teeth. She also claims she was physically and mentally abused by the couple.
Jack Daniels, the attorney representing the Jacksons, dismissed the charges as absolutely false.
“My clients deny everything the complainant is saying,” he said. “It’s not a question of degree — they’re saying it just never happened.”
The lawsuit alleges that Ruiz was originally told she was coming to the United States to work as a traveling companion for Elizabeth Jackson’s ill mother. She was granted a four-month visa and accompanied the ailing woman to the United States in early 2001.
The two women moved into a cramped apartment in Sacramento, but Ruiz was told a short time later that lack of space made it necessary for her to live at the Jacksons’ Culver City condominium, said Ruiz’s attorney, Dan Stormer. Elizabeth Jackson’s mother would stay in Sacramento because she was unable to navigate the stairs in her daughter’s home.
“They knew all of this before she came over,” Stormer said. “It’s crystal clear they used this just as a ploy to get a maid.”
The Jacksons say Ruiz was given a futon pad and comforter in the upstairs guest bedroom. But Ruiz’s attorneys argue that there is no way the pad would fit in the cluttered space.
“The defense is saying that it was her decision to sleep on the floor — that she really wanted to sleep on the floor,” Stormer said. “They say she wanted to be downstairs because she’d write cards and letters at night, and her movement would cause the dogs to bark.”
Daniels said Elizabeth Jackson drafted a list of chores at Ruiz’s request, and the Jacksons provided her with room and board, as well as $400 a month. Money was deducted for phone calls Ruiz made and items they bought her.
He also said his clients urged Ruiz to return to the Philippines with Mrs. Jackson’s mother a few months after they arrived in the United States. “(Ruiz) refused to go with her,” Daniels said. “They didn’t want to call the INS, and they couldn’t physically take her to the airport, but they hoped to eventually get her to leave.”
Daniels said the Jacksons signed an affidavit of support when they initially applied for Ruiz’s visa. The visa expired, but the Jacksons continued to allow Ruiz in their home.
“They were trying to help,” he said. “She’d been in LA a while, and the domestic thing just kind of evolved. She became a maid, and not a very good maid.”
The lawsuit alleges that the Jacksons “limited (Ruiz’s) communications without her consent, restricted (her) access to private bedroom facilities and intruded on her personal affairs.”
In early 2002, Ruiz approached a neighbor and asked for help, Stormer said. The neighbor, Sandra Sheridan, testified in court last week.
“She said (Ruiz) grabbed her hand and was crying and upset,” Stormer said. “When she asked her why she didn’t get help, Nema said that if the police came out, they’d lock her up.”
Stormer said he believes the Jacksons had told Ruiz that law enforcement officials would take her into custody for an expired visa, and that she might have been afraid of the Jacksons and hesitant to upset them.
Sheridan’s daughter also testified in court last week and said that she heard someone being physically abused inside the Jacksons’ home.
Sheridan eventually called the police, and the Culver City Police Department intervened, removing Ruiz from the home in early 2002.
Ruiz’s contact information on the documents is listed in care of the Coalition to Abolish Slavery and Trafficking. It is unknown what Ruiz’s fate will be following the trial. Stormer said a court order prevents him from saying where she is currently living.
Ruiz’s attorneys have not asked for a specified amount of money.
“We haven’t given the jury a dollar figure, and we’re not going to,” Stormer said.
Ruiz is requesting unpaid minimum wages, overtime premiums with penalties and interest, liquidated damages, general, compensatory and special damages, and punitive damages, according to court documents.
“There are a million people in LA who would work as a full-time servant,” said Della Bahan, co-counsel for Ruiz. “In this case, (the Jacksons) wanted someone who was fearful and intimidated. That was their intent, and now it’s up for the jury to decide what will happen.”
Daniels said the lawsuit is entirely a “he said, she said” case.
“This is a contested case where one party says something, the other side says something else, and the jury decides who they believe. It’s that simple,” he said.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on August 23, 2004. Read the original PDF.