A Hamptons couple so prominent that they live on a street bearing their family name kept an Indonesian worker trapped at their estate and forced her into a life of brutal hours and paltry pay, according to a federal lawsuit.
Ni Ketut Sulastri, of Bali, is suing Rose and Lawrence Halsey of Water Mill for allegedly treating her as an indentured servant between 2005 and 2008.
According to the suit, the Halseys hired Sulastri to work at their home business on Halsey Lane through an Indonesian intermediary who promised her $450 a month, 9-to-5 hours, room and board and permanent legal status.
But Sulastri claims that she was soon working 15 hours every day, earning only $350 a month, living in a closet and being fed only leftovers and hot dogs. When she complained, the suit says, the Halseys informed her that “nothing is free in America.”
Sulastri said that she often cried in her room, which alternated between stifling heat and bitter cold because it had no heating or air conditioning.
The suit says that the Halseys barred her from calling home, asked her to hand over her passport and told her she would have to pay them $3,000 if she left.
Rose Halsey, who is in Indonesia, could not be reached for comment, and Lawrence Halsey did not return a call.