MEMORANDUM DECISION AND ORDER I. INTRODUCTION The New York State Nurses Association (“Plaintiff”) brought this action on behalf of the Filipino nurses that it represents who work at Albany Medical Center (“Defendant”) for alleged violations of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act (“TVPA”), 18 U.S.C. §1589, et seq. See generally Dkt. No. 1, Compl. Plaintiff claims that it is the exclusive collective bargaining representative for Defendant’s nurses, including eighty-four nurses who are part of a Philippines recruitment program and currently working for Defendant. See generally id. at
63-64. According to Plaintiff, these nurses are the “victims” of Defendant’s alleged TVPA violations; but, notably, there are no named nurses as plaintiffs in this suit. See generally id. Focusing on this omission, Defendant moves to dismiss Plaintiff’s complaint for lack of subject-matter jurisdiction pursuant to Rule 12(b)(1) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. See Dkt. No. 13. Defendant additionally moves to dismiss Plaintiff’s complaint for failure to state a claim pursuant to Rule 12(b)(6) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. See id. II. BACKGROUND Plaintiff alleges that Defendant recruited 582 nurses in the Philippines to migrate to the United States to work for it as registered nurses (“RNs”). See Dkt. No. 1 at 2.1 According to Plaintiff, to enter Defendant’s program, the recruited nurses were required to sign contracts obligating them to immediately pay up to $20,000 to Defendant should they resign their employment within three years of their start date (hereinafter referred to as “the liquidated damages provision”). See id. Plaintiff alleges that the nurses’ contracts stated that Defendant would seek to automatically enter judgment against the nurses, without so much as a lawsuit, if they resigned and failed to immediately pay Defendant. See id. Plaintiff further asserts that Defendant threatened to report the nurses to immigration authorities and subject them to deportation if they broke their contracts. See id. In addition to the liquidated damages provision and potential immigration consequences, Plaintiff also alleges that the nurses were provided living arrangements in unsafe neighborhoods without adequate security measures, were placed in medical units that did not correspond with their specialties and experience, and were paid less than their American counterparts who had lesser degrees and fewer years of experience. See id. at
