Crowley Maritime Sex Trafficking Lawsuit

When Vanessa reached out to attorney Ryan Melogy, she was not trying to make new law. She simply wanted her voice to be heard. But the legal framework her case eventually established over more than two years of contested federal litigation is now being cited by federal judges across the country in civil trafficking cases.

Federal courts in multiple districts have relied on the law created in Treminio and the related case Jane Doe #1 v. Crowley in a range of civil trafficking cases brought against hotel operators, websites, and other institutional defendants under the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act (TVPRA).

By clarifying how the TVPRA's civil remedy applies in modern workplace and institutional settings, the Crowley cases gave federal judges language and reasoning to deny premature dismissal of lawsuits alleging trafficking. The survivors in those cases got their day in court because Vanessa demanded hers first.

Vanessa came to the United States from El Salvador at the direction of her employer. Because she demanded to have her voice heard, the law she helped make now belongs to survivors everywhere.