Indian-American CEO, Who Mistreated Domestic Help, Fined $1,35,000

Himanshu Bhatia is the CEO for Rose International and IT Staffing.

Himanshu Bhatia, CEO, Rose International (Photo Courtesy: LinkedIn/@HimanshuBhatia)

An Indian-American CEO has been ordered to pay $1,35,000 to her former domestic worker after a Labour Department investigation found she underpaid and mistreated her.

Himanshu Bhatia, CEO of Rose International and IT Staffing, will have to pay her former live-in domestic service worker back wages and damages under the terms of a consent judgement entered into the US District Court for the Central District of California.

Last year, the Department of Labor alleged that Bhatia, paid her domestic service worker $400 a month (around Rs 26,554) along with food and accommodation.

The maid worked for 15-and-a-half hours a day, seven days a week, in Bhatia’s home in San Juan Capistrano and her other residences in Miami, Las Vegas and Long Beach, California.

According to a complaint filed by the US Labor Secretary, the domestic service worker, identified as Sheela Ningwal was subjected to physical and verbal abuse. Ningwal was forced to sleep in the garage on a carpet alongside Bhatia’s dogs when she was ill and was left without food for days when Bhatia left for long holidays, the complaint alleged.

Additionally, Bhatia confiscated Ningwal’s passport, restricting her movement and only handed her the passport when she was needed at her Miami penthouse.

In December 2014, Bhatia allegedly forced Ningwal to sign a document stating that she was being paid adequately and had no employment dispute with her employer.

According to the complaint, Bhatia terminated Ningwal’s service after she found out from Internet browser history that her domestic aide was researching labour laws. The department’s Wage and Hour Division found that Bhatia violated the Fair Labor Standards Act’s minimum wage and record keeping provisions from July 2012 to December 2014, as well as the act’s anti-retaliation provision.

This consent judgement underlines the department’s commitment to protecting workers from exploitation

Janet Herold, solicitor for the Department of Labour’s Western Region.

"The department will take strong and immediate action to ensure that workers are protected against retaliation," she added.