NBC News: Bakery Owners Defiant Despite Court Order to Pay $15 Million in Human Trafficking Suit
In their first public comment since a federal court ordered them to pay $15.3 million in damages to 11 workers, the owners of the Los Angeles-area L'Amande bakeries insist they are the ones being victimized in the ordeal.
"The default judgment is a miscarriage of justice, brought about by the abuse of both the justice and immigration systems by the plaintiffs and their lawyers," Analiza Moitinho de Almeida told NBC News in an e-mail.
Almeida contends the suit was a ploy by the workers to enrich themselves and change their immigration status.