By:  Timothy Sutton, Communications Editor

On August 10, 2012, the 3^rd Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in favor of Wal-Mart Stores Inc., facing charges for acts of transporting illegal immigrants, harboring illegal immigrants, encouraging illegal immigration, conspiracy to commit money laundering, and involuntary servitude. Zavala et al. v. Wal-Mart Stores Inc., spanned eight years and four judicial opinions. The allegations against Wal-Mart suggested that senior officials knowingly and willingly permitted contractors and sub-contractor to hire illegal immigrants to perform after-hour janitorial services.

In their defense, Wal-Mart asserted that the plaintiff janitorial workers were not employees (therefore, not under their control), but also performed work at a Marriott hotel, a movie theater, and remodeling homes. Further, Wal–Mart often used store associates (regular, non-contract employees) to clean its stores. As a result, the court found that Wal-Mart did not knowingly hire illegal immigrant workers or encourage their contractors to do so. The court refused to certifying the class action based upon the shared discrete characteristic of plaintiffs as undocumented immigrants, stating: “Being similarly situated does not mean simply sharing a common status, like being an illegal immigrant.”

Moving forward, it is likely that Wal-Mart will amend its screening and compliance policies when hiring contractual workers. Many of the allegations against the big-box retailer reveal suspect employment practices that should be avoided including:

• Management commenting on immigration status of workers
• Using out-of-state relief workers immediately following the arrest of workers by federal immigration authorities
• Allowing workers to store personal belongings in store
• Allowing workers to sleep in store

For more information about the latest immigration court rulings and other breaking immigration news, subscribe to our blog and contact our office to discuss your I-9 audits, training and compliance program needs, 562 612.3996, info@immigrationcompliancegroup.com.

Tags: Employer Compliance I-9/E-Verify, ICE, illegal immigrants, Legal Workforce, Undocumented Workers, Walmart Janitor Contractors, Walmart Janitorial Class Action

This entry was posted on Sunday, August 12th, 2012 at 8:16 pm and is filed under Employer Compliance, I-9/E-Verify News, ICE, Immigration News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.