A married Clinton couple who own a hotel and other businesses has agreed to pay $730,000 to end a class-action lawsuit accusing them of exploiting Filipino workers they allegedly lured to the United States with promises of an hourly wage and free housing.

The Filipino workers accused Walter and Carolyn Schumacher — who own a Holiday Inn Express and nearby water park — of reneging on their promises and forcing the immigrants to work under threat of physical harm, including allegedly being told airfare back to the Philippines would only be paid for if an employee was returning “in a box.”

Seeking an unspecified amount in punitive and compensatory damages, the ACLU of Oklahoma, San Francisco-based Legal Aid at Work and other attorneys filed the lawsuit on behalf of the workers in Oklahoma City federal court in 2017.

A U.S. magistrate judge this month was assigned to formally approve the settlement.

“We are proud of the settlement. It sends a clear message to employers that trying to exploit foreign workers does not pay,” said George Warner of Legal Aid at Work. “The 23 Filipino workers we represent were tricked into going to work for Mr. Schumacher and his companies under false pretenses.”

An attorney for the Schumachers attributed the following statement to the couple:

“The Schumachers have always categorically denied the allegations leveled against them in this case. In settling this case, the Schumachers continue to deny any wrongdoing. They made a purely economic decision to end extremely protracted and expensive litigation, and they are pleased to finally put to rest what has now been over six years of harm to their good reputation in a community they support and love.”

The Filipino nationals claimed recruiters in the Philippines induced them to pay fees to work in Oklahoma under the H-2B temporary foreign worker visa program.

The fees included airfare and travel expenses, medical exams and U.S. embassy interviews, totaling between $2,000 and $3,000 per worker, according to the lawsuit.

They were promised full-time work with above-minimum wage hourly pay, free housing or a housing allowance, food, transportation and stable, long-term work potential.

Instead, they worked for low pay while the Schumachers’ unfulfilled promises left them powerless and afraid, the immigrants claimed.

Housekeeping jobs at the hotel allegedly paid $4.25 per room cleaned. At a steakhouse formerly operated by the Schumachers, servers claimed they were paid $2 per hour plus tips. Workers at the waterpark claimed they were paid $1 to $2 per hour less than promised.

Instead of providing free lodging or a housing allowance, the workers claimed the Schumachers required them to pay between $150 to $300 per month — even if they shared a room with several others — at a local motel to which the Schumachers referred them.

Workers claimed they were not provided food and did not have access to a kitchen to cook for themselves.

The Schumachers were accused of failing to provide transportation to worksites so that workers had to walk along or cross a highway to get to work, or else pay for transportation.

The Schumachers were also accused of failing to extend temporary work visas for the immigrants and refused to pay for their travel back to the Philippines.

After hearing their complaints, Walter Schumacher allegedly told the immigrants that he would only pay for return airfare to the Philippines if an employee was returning “in a box,” according to the lawsuit.

Because the immigrants could not afford to pay for return travel on their own, and because their immigration status was directly tied to the Schumachers because of their limited English and unfamiliarity with the U.S. legal system, they thought they had to continue working for the couple.

Schumacher was alleged to have threatened at least one local employer for hiring some of the workers, according to the lawsuit.

Just after the immigrants arrived in the United States, Schumacher drove them from the airport to Clinton. During the drive, he is alleged to have told the immigrants that he carried a firearm in his car.

The lawsuit stated that Schumacher made it widely known to the immigrants that “he was a current and/or former police sheriff, suggesting his close ties with law enforcement.”

He was alleged to have “reinforced this intimidation by using a police patrol car and talking to plaintiffs and putative class members from the police patrol car,” the lawsuit stated.

In 2019, the Schumachers agreed to pay more than $31,500, which included nearly $16,200 to the immigrant workers, in a related case brought by the U.S. Department of Labor.

No violations were acknowledged, but the payment was agreed to as a “good faith effort”  concerning the allegations, according to the legal order.

Last year, a similar lawsuit against the Schumachers, which was filed by three Jamaican immigrants, was dismissed.

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Oklahoma couple to pay $700K in hotel worker exploitation lawsuit