News Story - Austin American-Statesman

January 10, 2003

Lawsuit aims to get immigrants their due

Group hopes fight for 8 men's unpaid wages will bring attention to all-too-common crime

By David Hafetz

AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF

A group of eight immigrants showed up for work in June at a mobile home park in Southwest Austin. Wielding some old chainsaws, they began cutting and clearing trees.

The Mexican and Honduran men worked for almost two weeks. And despite their employers' promises, the men say, payday never came.

The men's plight might have passed with little notice. According to social service agencies, cases abound of immigrant workers -- people laboring in construction, lawn care and other services -- who aren't paid. The Mexican Consulate in Austin reports such complaints almost every day.

But with the aid of a nonprofit group, the men filed suit against the employer Thursday in Travis County court seeking unpaid wages. The case involves a relatively small amount of money -- $4,000 in unpaid wages, plus damages -- but social service agencies are hoping it will mark a broader new fight against the exploitation of immigrant workers.

"We expect more suits will be filed, to make sure workers like these can count on a fair day's pay for a fair day's work," said William Beardall Jr., director of the Equal Justice Center in Austin and one of the lawyers for the workers. The center, founded 1 1/2 years ago and funded by private donations and foundation grants, defends the rights of low-wage workers.

"Ultimately we want to change the climate of impunity that leads some employers to think they can cheat immigrant workers out of their earnings and simply pocket the workers' money," Beardall said.

He said the instances of immigrants being cheated are "shockingly routine" and can happen to day laborers as frequently as every five or six jobs. East Austin immigrant advocacy group Casa Marianella says it is currently handling 50 cases involving workers who say they've been cheated.

The victims often don't report wage theft because they fear involvement with government.

Beardall did not say whether the men suing were in the United States illegally. Their immigration status, lawyers say, has no legal bearing on the case.

Although illegal immigrants do not have all the rights of legal workers -- they may not, for example, be entitled to lost wages if they are unfairly fired -- they are entitled to be paid for work performed, said Rick Levy, the legal director of the Texas AFL-CIO.

"I think it's great," Levy said of the Equal Justice Center's project. "People really don't have a full understanding of the rampant abuse of these basic things -- just getting paid for your work."

Beardall said his organization, with the support of community groups such as Casa Marianella, plans to create an immigrant worker rights center this year. Beardall said the goal is to educate immigrants about their rights and how to access the legal system.

"The bottom line in too many of these cases is there is no real justification (for employers' actions) other than the apparent powerlessness of the workers to do anything about it," Beardall said.

Other efforts also are under way. The Austin Police Department has begun filing criminal complaints against employers who don't pay workers after other efforts to recover the wages fail.

Cmdr. Juan Gonzalez said some employers have been charged with theft of service -- a misdemeanor also used when someone runs out on a restaurant bill.

"It's been happening for a long time, and these people are getting stiffed, and now they've got a recourse," said Gonzalez, who did not know how many charges had been filed or whether any cases have been resolved.

"The very threat of being filed on has made a lot of these unscrupulous employers pay up," he said.

Julien Ross, a wage claim coordinator for Casa Marianella, said the threat of police action likely will be more effective than lawsuits.

Immigrants' work situations often are complicated and involve agreements with subcontractors rather than with a big company. Often, the employers who are cheating workers are small operators who are hard to track down and sue, said Ross, who also is studying unpaid wages in Central Texas for his graduate work at the University of Texas.

The employers may not have a formal business and may operate out of a truck, Ross said.

"The farther you get away from the big company," he said, "the more vulnerable you become."

The eight workers, however, are suing established companies. Beardall said the two companies are partners and own the mobile home park.

The eight men, who could not be reached for comment Thursday, first approached Casa Marianella with their problem, Beardall said. The agency often makes phone calls and writes letters on behalf of immigrants to try to recover wages.

The organization does not ask immigrants if they are in the United States legally, Ross said. The cases, he says, are not about immigration but about basic rights.

"No matter what you're feeling about immigration," he said, "a fair day's pay for a fair day's work. You can't argue against that, unless you go back to the days before the Civil War."