LOS ANGELES - A jury recommended that a vice president of legal affairs at Sony Pictures Entertainment and his wife should pay more than $500,000 in damages to a woman who claimed that they kept her as an indentured servant.
A jury on Thursday found James and Elizabeth Jackson liable for subjecting Nena Ruiz to involuntary servitude and for negligence and fraud. Elizabeth Jackson was also deemed liable for assault and battery.
"Of course, we're very disappointed in the verdict," said their attorney, Jack Daniels. He said his clients were considering an appeal.
Ruiz, 60, claimed in a Superior Court lawsuit filed last year that she often worked at least 18 hours a day and was forced to do strange household chores such as heating chicken nuggets and cutting up bananas or pears for two dogs.
She said she was paid $300 for a year's work at the couple's Culver City condominium.
Ruiz also alleged that she had to sleep in a dog bed and that Elizabeth Jackson repeatedly slapped her and pulled her hair.
