Guobadia v. Irowa

103 F. Supp. 3d 325, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 60093, 2015 WL 2129640
CourtDistrict Court, E.D. New York
DecidedMay 7, 2015
DocketNo. 12-cv-4042 (ADS)(ARL)
StatusPublished
Cited by16 cases

This text of 103 F. Supp. 3d 325 (Guobadia v. Irowa) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, E.D. New York primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Guobadia v. Irowa, 103 F. Supp. 3d 325, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 60093, 2015 WL 2129640 (E.D.N.Y. 2015).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OF DECISION AND ORDER

SPATT, District Judge.

On August 14, 2012, the Plaintiff Destiny Joy Guobadia (the “Plaintiff’) commenced this action against the Defendants Isoken Irowa (“Isoken”) and Uhumwna-mure Lucky Irowa (“Uhumwnamure”)(the “Defendants”). This case arises out of claims by the Plaintiff that she was lured and transported against by the Defendants from Nigeria to the United States based on false promises, and forced by the Defendants to work without pay as their domestic servant.

The Plaintiff raised a number of claims, including (1) unlawful trafficking with respect to peonage, slavery, involuntary servitude or forced labor in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 1584,1589,1590,1595; (2) involuntary servitude in violation of the Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution; (3) a violation of the Alien Tort Claims Act, 28 U.S.C. § 1350; (4) unpaid federal minimum wages as required by the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”), 29 U.S.C. §§ 203(d)-(e); (5) fraud; (6) false imprisonment; (7) conversion; (8) assault and battery; (9) intentional infliction of emotional distress; (10) negligent infliction of emotional distress; (11) promissory estoppel; (12) quantum meruit; and (13) unjust enrichment. The Plaintiff seeks compensatory and punitive damages; prejudgment and postjudgment interest; and reasonable attorneys’ fees, together with the costs and disbursements incurred in prosecuting this action.

Following the close of discovery, on November 10, 2014, the Defendants moved pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Proce[330]*330dure (“Fed. R. Civ.P.”) 56 for - summary judgment dismissing the complaint.

On December 10, 2014, the Plaintiff filed opposition papers to the motion for summary judgment. The Plaintiff represented that she will not pursue her claims for violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1584 and the Thirteenth Amendment; the Alien Tort Claims Act; negligent infliction of emotional distress; and quantum meruit. Therefore, the pending claims are (1) forced labor in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 1589, 1590, 1595; (2) unpaid wages in violation of the FLSA; (3) fraud; (4) false imprisonment; (5) conversion; (6) assault and battery; (7) intentional infliction of emotional distress; (8) promissory estoppel; and (9) unjust enrichment.

Jury selection is scheduled for September 8, 2015.

For the reasons set forth, the Defendants’ motion for summary judgment is denied.

I. BACKGROUND

Unless stated otherwise, the following facts are drawn from the parties’ Rule 56.1 Statements and attached exhibits and construed in a light most favorable to the non-moving party, the Plaintiff. Triable issues of fact are noted.

The Plaintiff was born on May 16, 1976 in Benin City, Edo State, Nigeria, When the Plaintiff was five years old, her father gave her away to her aunt, Mable Guoba-dia (“Mable”).

The Defendant Isoken Irowa, who was born on August 30, 1963 in Benin City, Nigeria, is Mable’s eldest daughter and also resided with the Plaintiff in Mable’s home in Benin City.

The Plaintiff maintains that from the time she arrived in Mable’s home, she was treated like a servant and stayed home all day performing household chores, which interfered with her education in Nigeria. (PI. Dep., at 25, 34, 59-60.) The Plaintiff further maintains that, during this time, Isoken engaged in a pattern of extreme physical abuse of her.

In 1989, Isoken moved to the United States.

After the Plaintiff graduated from high school in Nigeria, she continued to live in Mable’s home and worked in her store until 2001.

Thereafter, the Plaintiff traveled to Abuja, Nigeria to assist her cousin, Juliet Guo-badia a/k/a Juliet Aibangbee (“Juliet”), who had just given birth. Juliet is Iso-ken’s sister.

In 2003, the Defendants traveled from the United States to Nigeria. Isoken requested that the Plaintiff return to Benin City from Abuja to serve as the Defendants’ servant during their visit, and the Plaintiff agreed. (Id. at 81.)

The Plaintiff subsequently accompanied the Defendants to Lagos, Nigeria as their servant. In June 2003, the Plaintiff accompanied them to an international airport in order to collect souvenirs to return to family members in Abuja. Once at the airport, the Defendants told the Plaintiff that she was going with them to the United States. The Defendants apparently told the Plaintiff that they were bringing her to the United States as a gift for her hard work in service of the Defendants and that she would be able to “go to school” and work in the United States. (Id. at 104-05,119-20.)

Upon arrival in the United States in June 2003, the Plaintiff, then twenty seven years old, lived for a year in Roosevelt, New York in a relative’s home.

In her deposition, the Plaintiff stated that she performed nearly all the domestic work for the Roosevelt household, including cooking, cleaning, and childcare, without pay. (Id. at 145-55.) The Defendants [331]*331would return to the Roosevelt home to eat meals prepared by the Plaintiff. (Id. at 138,159-169.)

Near the end of 2004, Isoken directed the Plaintiff to move to their new home in Hempstead, New York. (Id. at 142-45, 164-65.) The Plaintiff stated in her deposition that she felt she could not decline to move to Hempstead. (Id. at 164-65.)

At the new home, the Plaintiff performed almost all the domestic duties for the household without pay, which occupied most of her waking hours. (Id. at 174-75, 183, 201-02.) Further, even after she began to work outside of the Defendants’ home, the Plaintiff performed most of the same household chores. (Id. at 308-12.)

The Plaintiff claims that throughout her time working for the Defendants, they prevented her from attending school while promising that she would be able to do so at a future date. (Id. at 202-03, 355-59.) The Plaintiff maintains' that the Defendants isolated her, forbidding her from talking to anybody' outside their home.

The Plaintiff claims that if she indicated that she would deviate from Isoken’s commands in any way, Isoken would physical strike her. On at least one occasion, these blows resulted in visible bruises to the Plaintiff’s face. (Id. at 411-18, 423-24, 426-27, 444-45, 449-51.) On at least one occasion, Uhumwnamure apparently witnessed this physically abusive behavior on the part of Isoken. (Id. at 432-40.)

In 2006, the Plaintiff began working in a paid position as a Lunch Monitor for the Hempstead Public School District at Franklin Elementary School. This position was arranged for her by Isoken. The Plaintiff worked in this position under the name Juliet Guobadia.

From approximately 2006 until 2010, the Plaintiff also worked for Loving Home Care, a company that provides home health aide services. This position was arranged for her by Uhumwnamure. (Id.

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103 F. Supp. 3d 325, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 60093, 2015 WL 2129640, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/guobadia-v-irowa-nyed-2015.