Local couple ordered to pay $768k

A La Cañada couple has been ordered to pay $768,000, including $500,000 in punitive damages, to an Indonesian woman who was subjected to harsh treatment while working as a domestic servant in a home on Hillcrest Avenue in early 2006. It is believed to be the first case ever tried under the California Trafficking Victims Protection Act.

In a civil case that concluded on Nov. 2, a Los Angeles Superior Court jury found Andrew Tjia and Sycamore Choi guilty of bringing Suminarti Sayuti Yusuf from Jakarta, Indonesia to Southern California, confiscating her passport and forcing her to work 16-hour days without rest or pay.

The criminal case was settled in September 2008, with Choi pleading guilty to felony human trafficking and Tjia pleading guilty to misdemeanor false imprisonment. Tjia now lives in Singapore, where he works in finance. Choi, however, continues to serve her sentence of one-year house arrest and remains confined to the home in the 600 block of Hillcrest Avenue.

Bob Nicksin, one of several lawyers from the law firm O’Melveny and Myers who worked the case pro bono, said in December 2005, Yusuf was looking for work through a staffing agency in Jakarta when she was referred to Tjia’s father-in-law, who lives in the city. Yusuf was introduced to Tjia and Choi at that time, and traveled to Southern California in January 2006 to work in their home.

Nicksin said Yusuf was subjected to verbal abuse and psychological coercion during her two months in La Cañada.

The defendants, he said, would scream at Yusuf and threaten that if she were to leave the house she would be raped or arrested.

They forced her to perform demeaning household tasks, including providing foot massages, Nicksin said.

At one point, Nicksin said, Yusuf tried to escape by approaching some workers at a house across the street and asking them to take her to the Indonesian consulate.

However, the workers either did not believe her or did not understand her, Nicksin said.

Eventually, she contacted the family member of a former employer who lived in Nebraska and provided the acquaintance with the address of the house.

The acquaintance contacted the FBI, who contacted local law enforcement and Yusuf was set free, Nicksin said.

With the aid of Bet Tzedek Legal Services, which provides free legal representation to low-income and elderly individuals, and O’Melveny and Myers LLP, Yusuf pursued criminal and civil cases against Tjia and Choi, Nicksin said.