A court in Bergen has sentenced the owner of a coastal fishing and recreation center to 60 days i prison and ordered him to pay NOK 300,000 in compensation to a Latvian women who worked at the center for half a year without pay, any job contract or legal work schedules.
Inspectors from the state labour directorate and police had found the woman injured and undernourished, and she told them she’d felt “treated like a dog.” The man who owned the otherwise picturesque Nautnes Fiskevær (fishing center) in Øygarden, about a hour outside Bergen, was accused of withholding pay for her services as a maid at the center that offers accommodation, boat rental and other recreational activities. She also testified that he’d only provided her with old food that was long beyond its sell-by dates.
He has appealed the main charges that he exploited her and left her in a vulnerable social situation. He claimed he had never actually employed her.
newsinenglish.no staff
