The US Embassy in Riyadh refused to comment on Trina Flowers’ case on the grounds of protecting its citizens' privacy.

“Americans have a right to privacy protected by federal legislation. The Privacy Act limits our ability to comment on matters involving American citizens. We are therefore unable to comment on the allegations made in this instance,” embassy spokesman Mofid Deak said.

Sources told Arab News that the schoolteacher was seen at the US Embassy in Riyadh on Monday, the day the report was published.

However, when contacted, Flowers denied she had visited the embassy that day, blaming diplomats for not taking any action to resolve her case with her sponsor and send her back home.

She claimed that she went to the US Embassy 12 months ago to lodge a formal complaint about her case.

Flowers had earlier told Arab News that she had approached human rights agencies in the Kingdom.

However, inquiries revealed the teacher has never contacted any of the major human rights bodies in the country.

The teacher is claiming both compensatory and punitive damages for human rights violations and crimes allegedly committed by her sponsor during her period of stay in the Kingdom.

Reacting to the plight of Flowers, a Saudi philanthropist wrote to her saying: “We are terribly sorry for the pain and troubles you have endured at the hands of some of our compatriots. This is unacceptable and intolerable. (We) will do everything in our power to right the wrongs that have been inflicted upon you and many like you. Our teachings of Islam and our Saudi and Arabian traditions find such acts against you and other foreign guests alien and despicable.”

However, Jerry Giorgi, a colleague of Flowers who worked with her in Najran for two months, told Arab News that she had started out in Qassim and was then transferred due to alleged obnoxious behavior.

“Her behavior was so atrocious in Najran that she was also fired and supposed to be escorted back to Riyadh to be put on an airplane, but I guess she would not leave Riyadh because she was not paid,” Giorgi said.

“The company sponsored our three-month renewable visas and so they kept her in Riyadh paying her salary. She was not sponsored on an iqama, it was a temporary work visa and she could have left anytime she wanted to. Trina did not like to obey the laws of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia as a woman. She always defied the laws of the authority and therefore always got into trouble. I honestly cannot believe she is still in Riyadh complaining about something that happened well over a year ago.”

An Asian expatriate who has been living in the Kingdom for well over 30 years said that this is an isolated case of a Western worker becoming a victim of circumstance.

“The reasons behind this form of victimization include insubordination and disrespect toward the local regulations, which is abhorred by Saudi employers,” he said, adding that the authorities should take firm action for her immediate repatriation.