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JUDGE ORDERS $2,910 TO BE PAID
Posted by the Asbury Park Press on 07/28/06
BY MICHELLE SAHN
COASTAL MONMOUTH BUREAU
FREEHOLD — A judge on Thursday ordered the owner of a landscaping and tree service company to pay two immigrant workers a total of $2,910 in owed wages.
Superior Court Judge Mark A. Sullivan Jr. told Michael Curialle that, after listening to testimony, he believed the workers, and ordered the business owner to pay $1,940 to Benito Guendulain, and $970 to Salomon Zavaleta for work they did last month.
Curialle argued that he needed more time to bring in witnesses because he had not been served with the paperwork for the case involving the two workers, but just happened to be in the small claims courtroom on another, unrelated case.
Sullivan told Curialle if he has new evidence, he will be allowed to apply for the judgment to be set aside.
After the workers' case was concluded, Sullivan then ordered Curialle to pay $2,873.45 to Triple C Nurseries in Marlboro. Robert Radice, a salesman for that company, said Curialle bought products from their company and paid with a check, then stopped payment on it.
That case was the reason Curialle was originally in court on Thursday. But the case involving Guendulain, 37, and his nephew, Zavaleta, 19, had also been scheduled for Thursday. Both men, who worked in corn and bean fields in their native Mexico, arrived in the United States about 10 months ago and live in Freehold.
During the morning roll call of small claims cases, Sullivan told the workers the Curialle had not yet been served with the paperwork for their case, but then they recognized him in the courtroom.
The workers were accompanied by Rita Dentino, a coordinator at Casa Freehold, a local nonprofit group, and she told the judge Curialle was in the courtroom.
The judge sent both cases to mediation, but an agreement could not be reached, and around 3 p.m., all of the parties wound up before Sullivan. The judge heard the workers' case first.
Curialle asked for an adjournment, saying he wanted to bring in witnesses to testify about the length of time the men worked.
The judge asked him why he couldn't get his witnesses to the courthouse even though his company is in Freehold and he had known since 9 a.m. that the case would be proceeding.
He told the judge he was "more worried" about the other case.
Through a Spanish-language interpreter, Zavaleta told the judge he worked from 8 a.m. until 9 p.m. for six days, a total of 78 hours. He said he told Curialle he did not have papers that would allow him to work in this country, but said Curialle told him he would pay cash, and suggested he try to get papers the following week so he could be paid by check.
After a week, he was not paid, he told the judge.
Through the same translator, Guendulain said he worked for two weeks, 78 hours each week, but was not paid.
Curialle told the judge one of his workers picked up the men, and they did not work for more than four days. He said he paid one $50 and another $200, and when their paperwork came back as fake, he told them they couldn't work anymore.
this whole case does not make sense .
If they are illegal here , how they can use the US court system ?
And if they do not have papers to work how can they expect to get paid ?
The owner of the business used them , but why should they expect him to be honest in the first place - when both parties are violating the laws ?
This is such a good example of how the illegal mind works - they are using only the laws in this country which benefit them and they are totally ignoring all the laws which they do not like .
I think , this is time when I need to choose my own set of laws and just follow them - I feel jealous that the illegals get the right to pick up their own laws .
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