"Austin Beagle, 31, and Nevada Barker, 30, said they were trying to sign up for food stamps this spring when someone offered them a background role outside a county social services office in Long Beach. They thought the gig seemed intriguing, albeit a bit unusual. The offer came not from a casting director, but a man hawking free cellphones. The filming location was, oddly enough, a law firm in downtown Los Angeles."
"Maybe this was how actors were recruited here, they figured. The couple had recently moved from the remote ranching town of Stinnett in the Texas panhandle, and the recruiter seemed to appreciate their Southern drawl. They hopped on a bus, excited to make $200 between them. "They said we'd be extras," said Beagle, who was unemployed at the time. "But when we got to the office, that's not what it was at all.""
A couple seeking food stamps accepted an offer of paid work as film extras but were transported to a law firm and say they were asked to make abuse claims. Several plaintiffs represented by Downtown LA Law Group said recruiters paid them to sue the county over sexual abuse; some later said they had not been abused and were instructed to fabricate allegations. The law firm denied involvement with the recruiters, said it would never encourage lying about abuse, and said it is screening to remove false or exaggerated claims. Days later the firm asked a court to dismiss with prejudice at least one lawsuit by a man who admitted fabricating claims.
Read at Los Angeles Times
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