Lawyers representing four Indonesian fishermen who say they were beaten and trapped on vessels that provided tuna to Bumble Bee Seafoods filed a lawsuit Wednesday against the canned seafood giant.

It is believed to be the first such case of forced labor at sea brought against a U.S. seafood company, the men’s lawyers said.

The lawsuit accuses the company headquartered in San Diego of violating the Trafficking Victims Protection Act, which allows foreigners who suffered from human trafficking to sue U.S. businesses that knew or should have known that they were profiting from forced labor. The fishermen worked for vessels owned by Chinese companies from which Bumble Bee sourced its albacore tuna, the lawsuit said. — Associated Press