California Domestic Worker Victory Inspires Others

updated 10/29.09

Vilma Serralta, a 71-year-old Salvadorean immigrant woman, recently settled a lawsuit against her South Asian employers for labor abuses. While the settlement amount was undisclosed, her victory strengthened a growing movement of domestic workers.

Ms. Serralta had spent four years working as a live-in housekeeper and nanny for the Atherton couple. In her suit, she described 14-hours days, six days a week, without overtime pay or breaks. She was responsible for cleaning a multi-million dollar, 10,000-square foot home, as well as cooking and laundering and ironing clothes, and taking care of the couple's 7-year old daughter. She was their only employee in the huge estate. Her per hour wages amounted to $3-4 an hour.  She had no breaks, overtime pay or vacation time. Serralta also routinely endured verbal abuse and other indignities.

“My job was very hard,” Serralta said. “It was a really big house, I would do all the housework and they would really exploit me… one time they called me stupid, and they would yell at me.”

Her employer, Sakhawat Khan, is a Silicon Valley inventor and entrepreneur. Together with his wife Roomy, they operated a financial planning company out of their home called Digital Age Management

Other Bay Area domestic workers supported Serralta's suit, including picketing the Khan's home. Guillermina Catellanos of the Women’s Collective of La Raza Centro Legal and a member of the National Domestic Worker Alliance said that Serralta's case was an inspiration.

Serralta was represented by Hillary Ronen of La Raza Centro Legal of San Francisco and Christopher Ho of the Legal Aid Society-Employment Law Center.Her lawyers demonstrated that the Khans had fabricated critical evidence in their defense case. As a result, the Khans were forced to settle.

Post-script: Roomy Khan has admitted partiicipating in insider trading in the recent multi-million dollar Galleon Group scandal.