text: Indian American CEO Ordered to Pay $135K to Former Worker | Pixr8 Pixr8
  Indian American CEO Ordered to Pay $135K to Former Worker
  An Indian-American CEO has been ordered to pay USD 135,000 to her former domestic worker after a Labour Department investigation found she underpaid and mistreated her.
  The judgement, entered on April 11, resolves a complaint filed by the US Department of Labour in August last year.
  An investigation by the departments Wage and Hour Division found that Bhatia willfully and repeatedly violated federal labour laws minimum wage and record keeping provisions from July 2012 to December 2014.
  The complaint alleged that Bhatia paid her domestic service worker, who had been identified in an earlier complaint as Sheela Ningwal, a fixed monthly salary of USD 400 plus food and housing at Bhatias home in San Juan Capistrano and other residences in Miami, Las Vegas and Long Beach.
  Investigators found that the employee suffered "callous abuse" and retaliation, including being forced to sleep on a piece of carpet in the garage when ill, while Bhatias dogs slept on a mattress nearby. The complaint also alleged that Bhatia confiscated Ningwals passport.
  "This consent judgement underlines the departments commitment to protecting workers from exploitation," said Janet Herold, solicitor for the Department of Labours Western Region.
  "The department will take strong and immediate action to ensure that workers are protected against retaliation."