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Modern day slavery - in SC
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What a piece of shit. I think he will pay his dues in prison, hopefully for the rest of his life - however long that may be.

A white restaurant manager accused of enslaving and abusing a mentally disabled black man has been indicted by a federal grand jury in South Carolina on a charge of forced labor.
Federal prosecutors say Bobby Paul Edwards used “force, threats of force, physical restraint, and coercion” to compel John Christopher Smith to work as a buffet cook at J&J Cafeteria in Conway, S.C., for more than five years.

Edwards would force Smith to work from dawn until late into the night, seven days a week, with little or no pay, no benefits and no vacation time, Smith alleged. Some days he would leave so exhausted and weak he had to be carried home and “physically fed drink and food.”
Smith described Edwards like a slave driver. He said the manager would call him racial slurs, and threaten to “stomp” his throat and beat him “until people would not recognize him.”
Edwards also assaulted him regularly, sometimes taking Smith into the restaurant’s freezer or back office to keep others from noticing, the lawsuit said.


https://www.washingtonpost.com/...m_term=.494fc0c89401
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Re: Modern day slavery - in SC [rick_pcfl] [ In reply to ]
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Article is behind a pay wall.

I have ask, why didn’t this Smith dude just quit?

Civilize the mind, but make savage the body.

- Chinese proverb
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Re: Modern day slavery - in SC [Duffy] [ In reply to ]
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I was able to view it okay. The article indicated that the guy was afraid, as were other employees who witnessed some of the abuse. Since he had some mental disabilities, he may not have been able to understand that he could escape without being harmed.

Granted the article could be slanted, but it doesn't sound like this is a just a misunderstanding.


The combination of threats and actual abuse made Smith so afraid, the lawsuit said, “that he felt coming forward would be fruitless” and bring about “more aggravated abuse or even death.”
All the while, Smith lived in squalor behind the restaurant in a roach-infested apartment owned by Edwards, according to the complaint. Smith’s attorneys described the conditions there as “sub-human,” “deplorable” and “harmful to human health.”
Edwards allegedly told Smith that he had a bank account with more than $30,000 of his earnings, but Smith said he was never paid any of that money or given access to the account. The restaurant reported that Smith earned less than $1,000 per quarter, even though he was regularly working 18-hour days, according to the complaint.
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Re: Modern day slavery - in SC [rick_pcfl] [ In reply to ]
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Was able to read it on a different browser...

Quote:
Smith, a 39-year-old with a mild cognitive disability, had worked for more than two decades without issue at the J&J Cafeteria, washing dishes, busing tables and later cooking food at the folksy small town diner. But when Edwards took over as manager in 2010, Smith said, the job turned into a nightmare.

So Smith was able wash dishes, bus tables and cook (for 20 years!!!) but then this new manager all of sudden tricked him into slavery.

Something isn’t adding up here. There’s something being left out of this story.

Civilize the mind, but make savage the body.

- Chinese proverb
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Re: Modern day slavery - in SC [Duffy] [ In reply to ]
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Duffy wrote:
Was able to read it on a different browser...

Quote:
Smith, a 39-year-old with a mild cognitive disability, had worked for more than two decades without issue at the J&J Cafeteria, washing dishes, busing tables and later cooking food at the folksy small town diner. But when Edwards took over as manager in 2010, Smith said, the job turned into a nightmare.


So Smith was able wash dishes, bus tables and cook (for 20 years!!!) but then this new manager all of sudden tricked him into slavery.

Something isn’t adding up here. There’s something being left out of this story.

Now you're doing critical thinking too? ;)

"The great pleasure in life is doing what people say you cannot do."
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Re: Modern day slavery - in SC [Duffy] [ In reply to ]
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Duffy wrote:
Was able to read it on a different browser...

Quote:
Smith, a 39-year-old with a mild cognitive disability, had worked for more than two decades without issue at the J&J Cafeteria, washing dishes, busing tables and later cooking food at the folksy small town diner. But when Edwards took over as manager in 2010, Smith said, the job turned into a nightmare.

So Smith was able wash dishes, bus tables and cook (for 20 years!!!) but then this new manager all of sudden tricked him into slavery.

Something isn’t adding up here. There’s something being left out of this story.

You don't see how someone with a cognitive disability could be treated with dignity for a long time by one person then abused by another?

who's smarter than you're? i'm!
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Re: Modern day slavery - in SC [veganerd] [ In reply to ]
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veganerd wrote:
Duffy wrote:
Was able to read it on a different browser...

Quote:
Smith, a 39-year-old with a mild cognitive disability, had worked for more than two decades without issue at the J&J Cafeteria, washing dishes, busing tables and later cooking food at the folksy small town diner. But when Edwards took over as manager in 2010, Smith said, the job turned into a nightmare.

So Smith was able wash dishes, bus tables and cook (for 20 years!!!) but then this new manager all of sudden tricked him into slavery.

Something isn’t adding up here. There’s something being left out of this story.

You don't see how someone with a cognitive disability could be treated with dignity for a long time by one person then abused by another?

I do. But none of they ways I see that happening are addressed in the news story. They mention “mild cognitive disability” and that’s it.

So what is his disability and how did it, if at all, contribute to his acceptance of the inhumane treatment? Why did the rest of of the restaurant staff put up with it? They say they were “afraid”. Ok. Why did it take so long for this to get reported or noticed?

If I was working for a restaurant and a new manager came in and started beating and burning people do you I’d just do nothing and continue working for him?

Fuck no. So what is it about these people (all of the restaurant employees) that is different than me? Did this boss have some other leverage on these people? Why would so many keep their mouths shut?

That’s what I’d like to know.

Civilize the mind, but make savage the body.

- Chinese proverb
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Re: Modern day slavery - in SC [Duffy] [ In reply to ]
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Fair enough

who's smarter than you're? i'm!
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Re: Modern day slavery - in SC [Duffy] [ In reply to ]
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Duffy wrote:
but then this new manager all of sudden tricked him into slavery. .


Slavery, by definition, is not a trick.

Per the complaint, the allegation is that , "force, threats of force, physical restraint, coercion and other means" were used. Rather than trickery.
Last edited by: trail: Oct 12, 17 20:29
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Re: Modern day slavery - in SC [trail] [ In reply to ]
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trail wrote:
Duffy wrote:
but then this new manager all of sudden tricked him into slavery. .


Slavery, by definition, is not a trick.

Per the complaint, the allegation is that , "force, threats of force, physical restraint, coercion and other means" were used. Rather than trickery.

I’d like to know what exactly these threats, etc. were, why nobody said anything and why the victim didn’t just walk out.

To me these are details that are important to the story.

Civilize the mind, but make savage the body.

- Chinese proverb
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Re: Modern day slavery - in SC [Duffy] [ In reply to ]
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Duffy wrote:
trail wrote:
Duffy wrote:
but then this new manager all of sudden tricked him into slavery. .


Slavery, by definition, is not a trick.

Per the complaint, the allegation is that , "force, threats of force, physical restraint, coercion and other means" were used. Rather than trickery.

I’d like to know what exactly these threats, etc. were, why nobody said anything and why the victim didn’t just walk out.

To me these are details that are important to the story.

Perhaps the abuse and threats were done outside of work?

who's smarter than you're? i'm!
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Re: Modern day slavery - in SC [veganerd] [ In reply to ]
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Perhaps. We just don’t know, now do we?

I’d like to know. But the story doesn’t say, does it?

Civilize the mind, but make savage the body.

- Chinese proverb
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