Ni Ketut Sulastri Sues Rose And Lawrence Halsey, Claiming They Kept Her In Slave-Like Conditions

An Indonesian woman is accusing a wealthy couple in the Hamptons of keeping her in slave-like conditions for nearly four years.

In a lawsuit filed last week, Ni Ketut Sulastri claims that in 2005, Lawrence and Rose Halsey used an Indonesian intermediary to hire her to work at their children's shoe business, Business Insider reports. Sulastri says she was promised a 9-to-5 job working at the family shoe business, in return for $450 monthly salary, room and board, and permanent legal status in the United States, according to the New York Post.

Sulastri claims that when she arrived, the Halseys confiscated her passport and forced her to work 15 hours a day for only $350 a month. She says the New York couple made her live in a closet-sized room, prevented her from calling home, and only provided hot dogs and leftovers for her to eat.

"Nothing is free in America," Sulastri's employers allegedly told her, when she complained about her conditions.

At one point, customs officers discovered that the Bali woman was working illegally, according to Business Insider. Though the couple paid $4,000 to release Sulastri from jail, she says they subsequently forced her to work for free.

Sulastri managed to leave the $2.4 million home in 2008, when she realized that she would never obtain citizenship or decent wages from her position.

Relatives of the Halseys are skeptical. “The little closet that [Sulastri] referred to happened to be my father’s bedroom when he grew up,” Jennifer Halsey, Lawrence's sister, told CBS Local.

Steve Stoich, a brother-in-law of the couple, says Sulastri was part of the family and that she would attend Thanskgiving and Easter dinner. Furthermore, he pointed out, "She could have called the police when she was here if there was a problem."