That lawyer, Daniel Werner, called it “shocking that this happens in our backyard”.
“It is even more disturbing that it has gone on for years in New Jersey behind the temple’s walls,” Werner, of Decatur, Georgia, said on Tuesday outside the gates of the temple.
“This is 200 workers who were behind these fences for sometimes a year or two years or even longer, paid about US$1.20 an hour, working in hazardous conditions, not allowed to leave through these gates without being accompanied by somebody from BAPS.”
The lawsuit says more than 200 workers – many or all of whom don’t speak or understand English – were coerced into signing employment agreements in India over the last several years to work at the Hindu temple in Robbinsville, outside Trenton.
They travelled under R-1 visas, which are meant for “those who minister, or work in religious vocations or occupations”, according to the lawsuit.
The migrant workers of East Nusa Tenggara facing ‘modern-day slavery’
When they arrived, the lawsuit says, their passports were taken away and they were forced to work at the temple from 6.30am to 7.30pm with few days off, for about US$450 per month. That wage works out to roughly US$1.20 per hour. Of the US$450, the workers allegedly received only US$50 in cash per month, with the rest deposited into their accounts in India.
The workers lived in a fenced-in compound where their movements were monitored by cameras and guards, according to the lawsuit, and they were told that if they left, police would arrest them because they did not have their passports.
Messages were left Tuesday at telephone numbers listed for BAPS in New Jersey. BAPS CEO Kanu Patel, who is named as a defendant in the lawsuit, told The New York Times: “I respectfully disagree with the wage claim.”
A spokesperson for the organisation, Lenin Joshi, disputed the allegations.
“We are naturally shaken by this turn of events and are sure that once the full facts come out, we will be able to provide answers and show that these accusations and allegations are without merit,” Joshi told the Times.
The lawsuit also names BAPS and several individuals described as having supervised the workers. It seeks unpaid wages and unspecified compensatory and punitive damages.
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