Immigrant Workers Secure Historic $580K Settlement Against CA-Based Egreen Transport Corporation For Abusive Labor Practices

Dozens of workers who received local media attention after fighting back against their employer’s suspected labor trafficking practices have been vindicated, after a court approved a consent judgment with the U.S. Department of Labor requiring California-based Egreen Transportation Corporation to pay over $580,000 in unpaid wages, damages, and other penalties.

What happened?

The workers, all Chinese and Latino immigrants, were recruited to work at Egreen and denied pay for their work in California, Georgia, and New Jersey warehouses. Egreen coerced many of the Chinese workers into working 12-hour days, denied them payment, and housed them in overcrowded apartments—for which the Chinese workers were charged hundreds of dollars in rent. In response to workers’ repeated complaints, Egreen threatened retaliation and firing to silence them.

“This case is especially important under these current times where there has been an ongoing issue of fraudulent employment promises made to new, often desperate, asylum-seeking migrants. This case highlights those unscrupulous businesses and sends a clear message that they cannot prey on and exploit migrants with their illegal practices,” said Connie Chung Joe, CEO, AJSOCAL.

Chinese and Latino workers held a series of strikes to demand unpaid wages. Egreen again threatened, intimidated, and ultimately fired the striking Chinese workers.

After months of investigation, the Department of Labor entered into a landmark consent judgment with Egreen and its senior employees. In addition to paying the workers $580,000 plus interest, Egreen is also required to provide notice to its employees of their rights under the Fair Labor Standards Act and implement employment law training.

The settlement is the first in a series of expected accountability measures Egreen is expected to face, as complaints of illegal practices remain pending before other regulatory agencies, including the National Labor Relations Board and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. The workers pursued complaints to federal agencies with the support of AALDEF, in partnership with Sur Legal Collaborative, Asian Americans Advancing Justice – Southern California (AJSOCAL), and the former Immigrant Justice Project of the Southern Poverty Law Center.

Migrant Equity Southeast (MESE), a community-based immigrant rights organization in Savannah, and Tapestri, a non-profit organization in Georgia, supported the workers with immediate crisis needs and connected them to legal organizations.

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AAPI safety is under threat, and accountability matters. From 2016–2022, LASD documented just 64 AAPI-targeted hate incidents—that’s only about 1 case per year per 100,000 AAPIs.  

We’re celebrating a game-changing legal victory in holding @LASDHQ accountable for how they handle hate crimes. With our pro bono partner, we took LASD to court for failing to respond to formal requests for public info—and won. Now, we have access to their policies, procedures, and data. 

This victory sets a precedent for holding law enforcement accountable. Armed with this knowledge, AJSOCAL & other advocates now have the power to demand LASD take complaints of hate seriously. No one should endure harassment, & everyone deserves to feel safe in their community. 

AJSOCAL Files Lawsuit Against CA Massage Therapy Council For Discrimination

Jing Wang and over 100 other students were unfairly denied massage therapy licenses due to a secondary language test. We demand an end to this discriminatory practice and immediate certification for these qualified students. Everyone deserves fair treatment, regardless of language ability. At AJSOCAL, we’re fighting back!

While we fight for change through legal advocacy in the court system, we call upon all AAPIs to speak up about similar experiences. Continue to use your vote and your voice with legislators to support fair and just practices for all.

In 2014, Asian Americans Advancing Justice Southern California filed a complaint with the U.S. Department of Education Office of Civil Rights (OCR) against Temecula Valley Unified School District (TVUSD) on behalf of a concerned teacher for failing to provide its middle school English Learner (EL) students with adequate language support, and in some cases, eliminating all EL services. OCR found evidence that many EL students in TVUSD middle schools were not receiving proper services and some students received little or no support, preventing them from learning. OCR also found that TVUSD’s practices resulting EL students missing the opportunity to receive special help in accessing the core curriculum, which were provided to non-EL students. Based on evidence gathered during its investigation, OCR added a third issue to its investigation: whether TVUSD adequately notifies parents that do not speak English fluently of information that is called to the attention of other parents. OCR did not complete its investigation because it entered into a resolution agreement with TVUSD. Under the agreement, TVUSD will convene a coordinating committee comprised of an EL expert, EL teachers, EL parents, and a district administrator to revise the EL Master Plan to address deficiencies raised by the complaint and investigation, train teachers on how to implement the Master Plan effectively, and compensatory education for EL students that did not receive any ELD instruction. OCR will monitor TVUSD until it fulfills all requirements of the agreement.