OVERHEARD

“Until 9/11, America had a tolerance for the people who work hard.”

— Tariq Mohammed, 27, a Pakistani immigrant who said he had overstayed a student visa by seven years to take a succession of jobs. Mohammed was one of nearly 250 undocumented immigrants, mostly Pakistani, who sought entry as refugees at the border crossing near Lacolle, Quebec.

BUSINESS SUPERSTAR

Brand Expert Now Highest Ranking Woman in U.S. Olympic Committee History

Remember when the Nike sports bra posters were bigger than life in New York’s Times Square? Or when NBC debuted streaming Olympic coverage on its website in 2000?

Well, these marketing feats were all done under the direction of Toby Wong, one of the corporate world’s experts on brand marketing. Today, Wong is one of the most successful women in her field, and the highest-ranking woman in the 108 year history of the U.S. Olympic Committee — where she serves as head of marketing.

Wong grew up in Calgary, Canada and says that she was about to start her studies in chemistry when she decided to make one of the first rash decision that has come to characterize her life.

“I asked myself, ‘what do I know the least about?’ ” she said. “So, I decided to go to business school.”

Worrying her traditional parents a great deal, she left home to pursue her career, studied business at Queen’s University and was quickly recruited by Coca-Cola after graduation. Moving at breakneck speed up the corporate ladder, Wong soon transferred to Coca-Cola headquarters in Atlanta, where she eventually became global brand manager.

Wong was then recruited by Nike, where she says she got her dream job as women’s brand manager.

“My job was really to help girls playing sports around the world,” Wong said. “And it was really eye-opening because if you look at it, there are only a handful of countries where girls and women play sports.”

Wong said that working for Nike as an Asian woman was especially thought-provoking since the company was facing major heat for using contract sweatshop labor in Asia. Wong said that one time she was touring Nike factories in China, along with other Nike executives, and a few of the women working on the floor wanted to know who she was.

“These women came up to me and wanted to shake my hand because they were impressed by my role as a successful business woman,” Wong said. “But I saw them as leaders in their own families. It almost made me cry.”

Wong headed up the Next Generation sports bra campaign, made somewhat infamous by Brandy Chastain’s World Cup victory de-shirting. Continuing her work in sports but coming at it from a different angle altogether, Wong then moved on to broadband technology company Axient, where she helped put the Olympics live on the net.

Wong joined the Olympic committee early last year because she “wanted to do something bigger than selling something, bigger than myself.”

Wong said that she has already helped deliver $50 million in sponsorship money, which is $25 million more than any other person in her job in the same amount of time.

When asked how it feels to be involved in branding the entire world with corporate logos, Wong said: “It really is about a relationship with your customer, emotion, human experiences. Companies can’t forget to operate with a set of values, integrity.”

Wong believes that as an Asian woman, she’s had to work twice as hard as others and speak loudly about any injustices.

“I actually never really felt my race until I came to America,” Wong said. “I’ve always been proud of being an Asian woman, but was kind of apprehensive about talking about it. Then I met women like Vonetta Flowers, the first African American woman to win a gold at bobsledding, and talking to them I see how important it is to be a role model.”

— Neela Banerjee, AsianWeek

DOMESTIC VICTORY

S.F. Domestic Worker Earns Right to Sue Consulate General

In a December decision, a San Francisco federal appeals court ruled that Tae Sook Park, a former domestic servant for Deputy Consul General Bong Kil Shin of the Korean Consulate and his wife Mee Sook Shin, has the right to sue the couple for failing to pay her minimum wages or overtime.

The Ninth Circuit judge reversed an earlier district court decision, which dismissed Park’s claims, giving the Shins consular immunity. The new decision says that the Shins are not entitled to immunity under the Vienna Convention or the Foreign sovereign Immunities Act and remanded the case to district court.

Park says she typically worked seven days per week, 13 to 15 hours per day but was paid only $300 to $500 per month, or approximately $1 an hour. Park also seeks damages for intentional infliction of emotional distress for the Shins’ refusal to allow Park access to medical care and for confiscating her passport and preventing her from returning to China, her home country.

The case was originally filed in the spring of 2002 by nonprofit law firm Asian Law Caucus (ALC), and the appeal was picked up by Monty Agarwal of the law firm Bingham McCutcheon.

“The decision resolves a previously undecided issue and should have a considerable impact in this area,” Agarwal said. “The overreaching diplomatic immunity gives diplomats immunity on official acts. Is hiring a domestic servant an official act?”

Agarwal argued that the Shins had employed Park for personal reasons, not consular ones.

“I am very happy about the outcome,” Park said. “The Shins have left the United States, but I hope to continue pursuing my case. It’s just not right that they can get away with not paying my wages just because he is high government official.”

Joannie Chang, of the ALC emphasized the especially egregious characteristic of this case because it involved a Korean government official. She added, “Labor exploitation is both the purpose and the underlying foundation for the international trafficking of workers and a growing problem in the U.S.”

Agarwal said that the labor violations are so blatant that Park will probably recoup full wages plus damages.

“Having this decision put down on the books is an important one,” Agarwal explained. “The issue does come up often in New York and Washington D.C., especially with the numerous officials from international organizations like the International Money Fund (IMF) and the World Bank.”

BOLLYWOOD BUST

Multiethnic Multiplex to Close

A theater complex catering to the Bay Area’s large South Asian population will close, the victim of low attendance, despite the region’s diversity.

Shiraz Jivani, owner of the Naz8 Cinema in Fremont, Calif., is shuttering what may have been the country’s first “multiethnic multiplex,” the San Jose Mercury News reported.

The theater featured movies from China, Iran, Afghanistan, the Philippines and other countries, but most were from Bollywood — the Bombay, India-based film industry that is the world’s largest.

Jivani’s fortunes rose and fell with the undulating fortunes of the H-1B visa program that brought thousands of South Asian hi-tech workers to Silicon Valley. He estimated that attendance — which once hovered around 10,000 moviegoers per week — has dropped 50 percent.

“A lot of H-1Bs have gone back,” he said. “That economy hurt us bad.”

About 143,000 residents of Indian origin live in the San Francisco Bay area, according to the 2000 census, more than half of them in Fremont or Santa Clara County.

— The Associated Press

Compiled by Neela Banerjee.