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  1. #1
    Senior Member Brian503a's Avatar
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    Court Allows Workers to Sue Carpet Plant

    http://www.foxnews.com/wires/2006Sep28/ ... %2C00.html

    Court Allows Workers to Sue Carpet Plant
    Thursday, September 28, 2006

    By ERRIN HAINES, Associated Press Writer

    ATLANTA — A federal appeals court ruled Thursday that one of the world's largest carpet makers can be sued under racketeering laws over allegations of hiring thousands of illegal immigrants and depressing wages.

    The lawsuit was sent back to the U.S. 11th Circuit Court of Appeals for reconsideration this summer after attorneys argued the case before the U.S. Supreme Court.

    "From my perspective, it's a huge victory,"said lead attorney Harry Foster said from his Chicago office."We get to go to trial."

    Former and current workers at Dalton-based Mohawk Industries claim they received lower wages than workers at other companies in the Dalton area, which is known as the"Carpet Capital of the World"and home to carpet plants for Shaw Industries, Interface and other companies.

    "Other companies in the area not hiring illegal workers pay significantly more,"Foster said.

    Attorneys said they would pursue class-action status, which could include any worker employed by Mohawk between when the case was filed in January 2000 and the time the case goes to trial.

    Mohawk has repeatedly denied knowing it had illegal immigrants on its payroll. Calls to Mohawk attorney Juan Morillo were not immediately returned Thursday.

    The key question in this case, which has also been raised in others, is whether a corporation that contracts out a service can be part of an illegal"enterprise"under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act of 1970. The _ commonly referred to as RICO _ is a federal law originally designed to fight organized crime. RICO.

    In 1996, Congress expanded the anti-racketeering law's reach beyond organized crime to include violations of immigration law, such as the hiring of illegal workers.

    ___

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    Mohawk Industries:http://www.mohawkind.com
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  2. #2
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    YIP YIP YIPPEEEEEE
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  3. #3
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    Quote Originally Posted by 2ndamendsis
    YIP YIP YIPPEEEEEE
    i'm with you on that one.

  4. #4
    Senior Member CCUSA's Avatar
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    Class action suits! I love the ring to that statement!!!!

    Go gettem Foster!!
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  5. #5
    MW
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    Attorneys said they would pursue class-action status, which could include any worker employed by Mohawk between when the case was filed in January 2000 and the time the case goes to trial.
    I'm torn down the middle on this lawsuit. My sense of fairness tell me it's a good thing, but my feelings of frustration over the illegal immigrant issue iare clouding out my "sense of fairness."

    Is it fair that illegal immigrants should profit from this lawsuit? After all, I have no reason to believe they were paid any less than what they agreed to work for. Other employers obviously wouldn't hire the illegals, for good reason (it's against the law), so the illegals went to work for a company that would hire them for a specified wage. This is a wage that the illegal immigrants accepted, knowing full well that their illegal status was preventing them from working for more.

    Basically, I think the government should deal with the company appropriately for breaking the law, but I do not feel illegal immigrants should profit from such a lawsuit. Remember, it was their non-legal status that prevented them from working for a higher wage.

    In a nutshell, I think the lawsuit is a bad thing because illegals should not be entitled to the same wage as an American citizen. Actually, they shouldn't be entitled to any wage in our country, but that's another issue all together.

    Now, as I explained it, do you still think the lawsuit is a good thing?

    "The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing" ** Edmund Burke**

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  6. #6
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    The lawsuit was filed by American workers who have been harmed by Mohawk's illegal hiring practices. Having lived in the area I am following this case closely, and I can tell you that Mohawk is undeniably guilty of the charges. They even went as far as recruiting workers south of the border and bussing them to Georgia.

    IMHO, if class-action status allows some illegal immigrants to collect from the company, GREAT! It's just that much MORE MONEY that Mohawk will have to pay. In addition, this case sends a STRONG MESSAGE to other employers that hiring illegals won't be good for the bottom line ANY MORE!!!!

  7. #7
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    There was a case a few years back where workers/former workers sued Tysons for hiring illegals causing depressed wages.

    Was this one ever settled?
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  8. #8
    Senior Member Rockfish's Avatar
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    This law and others like it were inacted in 1996, Bush and ICE just decided that they'd ignore these laws.
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