In an unusual case, a wife has been given the go-ahead to sue her husband for damages relating to forced labor.

 

Russian immigrant Natalya Shuvalova paints an ugly picture of her American husband, Joe Cunningham, whom she met through eHarmony, in her lawsuit now before a federal court in San Francisco. Shuvalova claims that after she moved to the U.S. and married Cunningham, he forced her and her daughter, Liza, to perform slave labor and provide sexual services at his property near Clear Lake, California.

 

The Shuvalovas claim they had “to move around earth, large rocks and stones, [and] remove brush and debris” for eight to ten hours a day on the rural property, and were forced to live as prisoners. In their defense, the Cunninghams claimed that the work done by the Shuvalovas fell into the category of “household chores.”

 

Natalya was only allowed to leave the property to attend church with Joe, while Liza was not allowed to leave at all. The lawsuit also states that Cunningham forced Liza “to massage his naked body several times a week,” while his son, Dan, “routinely grabbed, forcibly kissed and fondled her.”

 

Mother and daughter were finally able to escape after seven months and move to a shelter. They eventually claimed damages for 18 different alleged violations of law. U.S. District Judge Richard Seeborg dismissed all but one of the counts…a charge of forced labor against Joe as defined by the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act, and did allow them to seek compensation.

-David Wallechinsky, Noel Brinkerhoff

 

'Enslaved' Russian Bride Can Sue for Forced Labor (by Maria Dinzeo, Courthouse News Service)

eHarmony Slavery Case Moves Forward in San Francisco (by Joe Eskenazi, SF Weekly)

Shuvalova v. Cunningham (U.S. District Court, Northern California) (pdf)