Mercer Co. Hindu Temple Forced Labor Lawsuit Expands To 4 States

MERCER COUNTY, NJ — A lawsuit filed against a Mercer County Hindu Temple, accusing them of forced labor and human trafficking has now expanded to four other states, according to reports.

The first lawsuit against the Bochasanwasi Akshar Purushottam Swaminarayan Sanstha, also known as BAPS in Robbinsville was filed in May. The lawsuit accused BAPS of recruiting men from India to come work at the temple for $450 a month, or around $1.20 an hour.

In an amended lawsuit filed last month, several workers from other cities claimed they were exploited at temples in Chino Hills, California; Bartlett, Illinois; Stafford, Texas and Lilburn, Georgia, according to the Associated Press.

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For working eight hours a day, workers were paid $194 per month in California and Illinois, $335 per month in Georgia, and about $600 per month in Texas, reported MyCentralJersey.com.

According to the initial lawsuit, temple leadership recruited Indian nationals belonging to the marginalized Dalit caste — considered "untouchables" — for construction and stoneworking jobs in the U.S. The workers were brought to the country on an R-1 or religious visa, used for clergy and lay religious workers, said the lawsuit.

While the workers in other states say they weren’t forced to work for many hours like their NJ counterparts, they were paid well below standards set by state and federal minimum wage laws, reported the AP.

However, workers did allege their passports were taken and they were forced to sleep in a large hall on temple grounds monitored by security guards, similar to the Robbinsville workers.

Read Related:

Mercer Co. Hindu Temple Sued, Accused Of Forced Labor

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