A federal judge has ruled that workers who’ve entered this country illegally have the same right to sue for overtime pay as any other workers.
The case — Galdames, et al. v. N & D Investment Corp. — was heard in Miami, and involved two plaintiffs who worked for a Miami commercial laundry They were looking to sue their employer for overtime pay and damages.
The laundry company argued that the U.S. Supreme Court, in Hoffman Plastic Compounds, Inc. v. N.L.R.B., ruled that illegal aliens couldn’t sue in U.S. courts under the Fair Labor Standard Act.
The Hoffman Plastic case involved an undocumented Mexican worker who had fraudulently used a birth certificate belonging to a friend born in Texas to get a job at a factory in California. He was fired after he tried to organize a union at his workplace. The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) found that the termination had violated the NLRA and ordered backpay and other relief. However, the Supreme Court, in a 5-4 ruling, concluded that the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986, which makes it unlawful for employees to use fraudulent documents to establish employment eligibility, erased the awarding backpay to an undocumented alien who had never been authorized to work legally in the United States.
Different rules
The judge said “no.” The FLSA rules are different from labor-relations rules, and apply no matter what the worker’s legal status is.
The judge’s decision is in line with the majority of state and federal court decisions that have considered the question of FLSA rights for undocumented workers.
Bottom line: Even if an employer unknowingly hires an illegal alien, the worker can use the employer for overtime pay and damages.
