Illegal Immigrant Workers Sue Wal-Mart

NewsMax ^ | 11/10/03 | AP

[Tumbleweed_Connection]

Nine illegal immigrants who worked as janitors at Wal-Mart until they were arrested during federal raids last month have sued the company, accusing it of discrimination. The nine say they were paid lower wages and offered fewer benefit because they are Mexicans, and they accuse Wal-Mart and its cleaning contractors of failing to pay for overtime, withhold taxes or make required workers' compensation contributions.

Their lawsuit, filed Wednesday in Superior Court in Freehold, seeks more than $200,000 in back pay.

The plaintiffs, who now face deportation, were among 250 people arrested in an Oct. 23 federal immigration crackdown at 60 Wal-Mart stores in 21 states. Theirs is the first lawsuit among the immigrants arrested.

According to the lawsuit, Wal-Mart employed cleaning contractors "with full knowledge" that they paid illegal immigrants less than legal workers.

"Wal-Mart must have known about these violations," the immigrant's lawyer, Gilberto Garcia, told The New York Times. "If these people are going to work at Wal-Marts, then Wal-Mart and its contractors should abide by the labor laws."

Mona Williams, Wal-Mart vice president of communications, said the company did not know about the alleged labor violations or that the contractors used illegal immigrants. She said Wal-Mart has long insisted that its contractors obey the law.

"Clearly, hungry lawyers are converging on these illegal immigrants as if they were accident victims," Williams said. "We have seen absolutely no evidence showing that Wal-Mart did anything wrong."

She acknowledged that Wal-Mart has received a letter from federal prosecutors warning that it faces a grand jury investigation into illegal immigrants employed at its stores. An employer can face civil and criminal penalties for knowingly hiring illegal immigrants or failing to comply with certain employee record keeping regulations.

The plaintiffs say they worked at least 56 hours a week and were not paid time and a half for overtime, hours worked beyond 40 a week. They say they were paid $350-$500 a week.

Wal-Mart, the world's largest retailer and the largest private employer in the United States, has 1.1 million domestic employees and about 3,500 stores.

[jmstein7]

No, but you should have to be.

[jmstein7]

See, e.g., Plyler v. Doe, 457 U.S. 202 (1982).

"Whatever his status under the immigration laws, an alien is surely a "person" in any ordinary sense of that term, and thus, is entitled to protection under equal protection clause."

"That person's initial entry into state, or into United States, was unlawful, and that he may for that reason be expelled, cannot negate simple fact of his presence within state's territorial perimeter for purposes of equal protection clause."

But...
"[the] state may withhold its beneficence from those whose very presence within United States is product of their own unlawful conduct"

Except from their kids.

[fishbabe]

but you know,this might be a good thing....now that i think about it,and my blood pressure has gone down after reading this story,it might be nice if these illegals make millions and scare the hell out of every business in this country....if theres no work,theres no reason to stay here!!!!!!

[freekitty]

Uh Oh...Get ready for new employment laws. This sure smacks of the Microsoft and Compaq contractor lawsuits.

[wku man]

What I'd like to know is what the hell are these illegal scumbag aliens still doing in the US in the first place? There's been plenty of time to send their stinkin', diseased, criminal a**es back to Mexico and Uncle Vincente. If these scumbags had immediately been packed up and shipped off to Nogales or Nuevo Laredo, they wouldn't be here to file such a stupid-a** lawsuit in the first place! Now we're gonna have to go through yet another ridiculous and costly legal drama when there's no reason for them to still be in our country!

Scouts Out! Cavalry Ho!

[only1percent]

Nope. Anyone in the world can file a suit in a U.S. court if they claim an injury cognizable under U.S. law. You have to be subject to service of process and jurisdiction in order to BE sued, though.

In the wage and hour context, it is well established that two wrongs don't make a right, i.e, the employer cannot fail to pay wages due, pay overtime or offer required breaks and leave for ANY reason related to the employee's status or conduct. You can't not pay overtime because an employee's an illegal alien, you can't not pay overtime because an employee is an incompetent jerk, etc.

And, far from being obliged to investigate the immigration status of an employee, to do so is illegal national origin discrimination. Any applicant who presents IDs which are adequate on their face and signs an I9 can't be pushed further about their status.

And that, basically, is the rub. Until the government requires work eligibility verification with measures no more complicated than the swipe of a credit card to buy $10 worth of groceries, all immigration policy talk is just ineffectual blather.

[txdoda]

"Wal-Mart and its contractors should abide by the labor laws........">>>>>>>>>


Especially when hiring employees who DON'T ABIDE by our immigration laws.

Looks like 'cheap labor' is fixin' to get a lot more 'spensive.