http://www.ocregister.com/ocregister/ho ... 250390.php

Tuesday, August 22, 2006
Suit contends illegal pickers undercut firm
O.C. attorney represents employer using legal help.
By AMY TAXIN
The Orange County Register
An Orange County attorney filed a lawsuit Monday accusing a Kern County farmer of hiring illegal immigrants to undercut his client's contract to provide blueberry pickers during harvest.

The suit on behalf of farm-labor contractor AgriLabor is the first in a series of suits that attorney David Klehm of Anaheim says he has undertaken since quitting his stable job as a medical-malpractice lawyer two months ago to take on California companies that he says skirt immigration law.

Klehm, 42, said his goal isn't to go after undocumented immigrants but rather the employers that make it tough for businesses to compete if they hire workers legally. Klehm, whose office is in Santa Ana, started a Web site in June with help from anti-illegal-immigration activists to reach out to companies that say they are being outbid for jobs or losing work because their legal labor costs are higher.

"I am representing companies that have lost business or are going out of business because of the significant impact this issue has on their bottom line," Klehm said. "It doesn't matter what side of the aisle you're on politically – you've got to support someone playing by the rules."

According to a copy of the suit filed in Kern County Superior Court, AgriLabor – a division of Los Angeles-based Global Horizons Inc. – had a contract to provide farmworkers to help Munger Brothers LLC pick blueberries over a nine-week harvest from April to June.

LOCAL CONTRACTORS
At the peak of the harvest, AgriLabor was expected to provide 600 workers.

But according to the suit, Munger, a farm in Delano, ended its contract with AgriLabor in the middle of May – at the start of the peak harvest – arguing that the workers provided failed to pick berries quickly enough.

Instead, Munger contracted through two local companies that AgriLabor said hire illegal immigrants. While AgriLabor obtained temporary visas and provided housing for its workers from Thailand and Central America, the suit alleges that the other providers didn't meet such requirements, enabling them to offer Munger a cheaper deal.

Klehm's accusations could not be verified outside of the lawsuit. He said he obtained information about other Munger laborers from their companies' field supervisors.

No evidence was provided in Klehm's claim to verify the accusations. AgriLabor is seeking more than $3 million in damages, alleging breach of contract and unfair competition from Munger and local labor providers Ayala Agricultural Services and J & A Contractors.

No one could comment at Munger's offices. Ayala Agricultural Services and J & A Contractors could not be reached.

INCREASED ENFORCEMENT
The lawsuit comes as the U.S. government steps up work-site enforcement in the face of complaints from anti-illegal-immigration activists, many of whom say federal authorities have done too little to penalize employers that hire illegal immigrants.

So far this year, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has started 219 criminal investigations of employers suspected of hiring illegally. In April, ICE arrested seven managers at pallet-distributor IFCO Systems and charged them with conspiring to encourage illegal immigration.

John Trasviña, general counsel for the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, said he had no sympathy for employers who exploit undocumented immigrants, but thought a policy-based solution would cover more ground than moving cases through the courts.

The U.S. Supreme Court earlier this year dismissed a case filed under anti-racketeering laws against a Georgia-based company by workers who said their employer suppressed wages by hiring illegal immigrants.

"The answer is better labor law and safety enforcement, and the answer is making sure people who need to work in the United States have visas," Trasviña said. "Those are both much more effective ways of solving problems than litigation using antitrust laws."

NOVEL APPROACH
Klehm, a former Marine who grew up in Pittsburgh, said he became concerned about the impact of illegal immigration on local hospitals when he spoke with doctors during his malpractice work. He wanted to get to the heart of the issue and said he was surprised to learn how little litigation had been filed against employers suspected of knowingly hiring undocumented immigrants.

His Web site, , reports receiving thousands of hits since it was launched in June.

Klehm said he hasn't found any other California cases that use antitrust laws – which prohibit companies from conspiring to prevent competition – when dealing with immigration-related issues.

Neither has Robert Badal, a Los Angeles attorney specializing in antitrust law.

"I think this is a novel approach using some fairly standard Cartwright Act jurisprudence," Badal said, referring to California's antitrust law.

"This issue is going to keep percolating up in a number of ways, and this is one company's way of dealing with it."