Palos Verdes Resort Accused Of Human Trafficking Violation

PALOS VERDES, CA – A complaint has been filed against Tarranea Resort in Rancho Palos Verdes, alleging human trafficking violations and the exploitation of foreign interns. Unite Here Local 11, a group representing hotel workers in Southern California, filed a complaint with the U.S. State Department on behalf of Falak Rashid, 23, and her fiancé Wahid Rahman, 24, according to Los Angeles Times.

The couple spent a combined $15,000 on airfare, U.S. visas and placement fees in order to take part of a culinary internship program. Students in the program would rotate between the resort's eight restaurants and learn to prepare food from around the world, eventually becoming chefs capable of opening an international restaurant back in their native countries, the Los Angeles Times reported. However, the program allegedly panned out much differently for the couple.

The duo stayed in the program for less than two months. They were put to work as entry level cooks in one of the resort's kitchens, receiving no meaningful training and under exploitative conditions, they said. They decided to cut their losses and fly back to Kolkata after they blew through their savings and accumulated $11,000 in debt, according to the Los Angeles Times.

The complaint alleges the resort “replaced nearly its entire entry-level cook workforce” with interns from Asian countries including the Philippines, Malaysia and India. The resort employed about 45 such workers in its various kitchens by 2017, the complaint states.

Unite Here says that the resort misled interns and violated the State Department’s regulations for the J-1 cultural and educational exchange visa in addition to human trafficking and labor laws. The union is seeking reimbursement of the couple’s expenses and an investigation of Terranea’s internship program, Los Angeles Times reported.

“The workers are vulnerable to exploitation because their immigration status in the U.S. is tied to their continued employment at the resort,” the complaint states.

Terranea has offered culinary internships through the visa program since 2011, and the allegations are baseless, according to Jessie Burns, a resort spokeswoman. More than 160 students have completed the program, she told the Los Angeles Times.

“We are very proud of the students who we have trained and who have gone on to launch their own culinary journey,” she said in an email to the Los Angeles Times. “Some of our interns have successfully opened their own restaurants, and become sous chefs and chefs at other resorts.”

Read more at Los Angeles Times

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