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Home Front: Culture Wars
Illegal Immigrants Sue Wendy's
2006-10-07
A group of illegal immigrants who worked for Wendy's International Inc. is suing the restaurant chain because the company fired them after discovering it had missed a deadline for joining a federal program that would have helped them attain legal status.

The lawsuit, filed Friday in state district court in Houston, is a companion to a similar class-action suit filed last month in Dallas against Dublin, Ohio-based Wendy's, its subsidiary Cafe Express and the Houston-based business law firm Boyar & Miller.

The immigrants, who worked for Cafe Express, are seeking unspecified damages.

Between the two lawsuits, 40 illegal immigrants say they were fired after the company recently found that Boyar & Miller, the law firm Wendy's had hired, never filed paperwork for a 2001 legalization program that allowed immigrants with employer sponsorship or an American spouse to apply for citizenship.

Once the discovery was made, Wendy's was forced by law to fire the employees because of their illegal status. Immigrants in the program would have been insulated from being fired.

"I put all my hope and faith in this company," said Daniel Olivares, who worked for Cafe Express for nine years before being fired in September. "It was devastating news for me and my family."

Wendy's spokesman Bob Bertini called it an "extremely unfortunate situation" due to "the mistakes made by others" that began before his company acquired Cafe Express.

Both entities "had no idea these applications were not filed on time until late this summer," Bertini said. "Unfortunately, our hands are tied."

Bertini said Boyar & Miller, which no longer represents the company, was supposed to file the paperwork on time. The firm did not immediately return calls seeking comment.

Wendy's and Cafe Express say the number of immigrants affected statewide is 22 _ 16 who were fired, and six who left on their own after hearing the news.

But attorneys for the immigrants estimate that the number is closer to 100, even though only 40 are named in the suits.

"A surgeon leaving a scalpel inside of someone is a direct analogy to missing a filing deadline _ you don't do it as a lawyer," said Stanley Broome, whose Dallas-area law firm, Howie, Broome & Bobo, is representing the immigrants.

Attorneys for Olivares said the company deducted $25 from his weekly paycheck of $313.20 for 4 1/2 years to cover legal fees associated with the program. With the rest of his paycheck, Olivares said he helped support his sister, her two daughters and his ill mother in Mexico City.

Olivares said he was risking deportation to speak up for himself and his former co-workers. He said he has not looked for other work because he's afraid of being caught by the authorities.

"I'm not safe anymore," said Olivares, who has been in the country 14 years.
Posted by:.com

#22  Actually, anon, that's true of just about any retail business. Food, furniture, auto parts, whatever, the retail mark-up is over half the price. Retail stores are expensive to run.
Posted by: Jackal   2006-10-07 21:27  

#21  It should be noted that most of the cost of a food product is applied between the farm and the table. Interesting. So the mobsters unions who run the food chains are getting the biggest cut. Figures.
Posted by: anon   2006-10-07 16:38  

#20  completely agree. Saw a similar segment while in the Midwest recently. Heh, maybe the MSM is trying to scare us that motherhood won't be able to make apple pie. I thought to myself, so you are going to have to pay a reasonable wage and we will have to pay more for apples. We'll save the money on our taxes.

Behind the scenes, there seems to be quite a bit of activity going on making it tougher on the employers. Several cities are suing the large companies demanding reimbursemnt for city services used by illegals.

If you ask me, the way to end this is to make it more expensive for the employers to fight the lawsuits and bribe contribute to the politicians than it is to pay a fair wage. You don't have to sue them all to make most of them fly right.
Posted by: anon   2006-10-07 16:34  

#19  Did you notice that the one farmer said he had to bring in "Legal" foreign workers at a higher wage cause he couldn't get enough illegals at the cheaper wage. It should be noted that most of the cost of a food product is applied between the farm and the table. Don't be fooled about where most of you grocery money goes.
Posted by: Throger Thains8048   2006-10-07 16:24  

#18  I wouldn't mind a licensed workforce, but enforcement and control comes first. Otherwise you have no rational basis to decide who and how many are allowed to work, often to the detriment of teens, minorities starting out in their first jobs. I did contruction pick-up work, worked in a pizza kitchen, and did car detailing for my first couple jobs in high school - those are all dominated by illegals now. Where do teens get their first taste of work-for-money now?
Posted by: Frank G   2006-10-07 16:04  

#17  Umm, that's how it has always worked up till a few years ago. Nobody ever said that you are guananteed unlimited employees for $3.50 an hour. You have to compete for employees, pay is only one way to do it, but it is a good way.
Posted by: bigjim-ky   2006-10-07 15:28  

#16  immoral yes, all the way around. Go after the employers - btw - "the fence and greater enforcement won't work" we're constantly told. I saw a newsclip about the farmers who can't get their apples picked, their lettuce picked, because....the workers aren't available - at the wage the farmers want to pay. Apparently there's a shortage (wonder why?), and the pickers are working for the highest bidder, networking via cellphones...
Posted by: Frank G   2006-10-07 14:53  

#15  been thinking and I know someone is going to say that my comparison to slavery lessens the horror of the institution of slavery. Ok. I take it back. But there are many parallels. This whole system of illegal immigration is immoral. Millions of people living and working here without rights, living in a shadow world.

And the reason given for keeping this terrible system in place? The economy would collapse without the cheap labor. Sound familiar?

Also annoying is the claim that the brown folk will do jobs that Americans won't do. And then who will do it when we make them citizens? It's bull.

This is a system that openly encourages the poor to come here for opportunity and then exploits them once they get here.
Posted by: anon   2006-10-07 13:31  

#14  Frank, I agree that Wendy's owes them nothing. And I am also sick of the lie we somehow benefit by employers hiring workers and not paying them enough money to live here and then making taxpayers pick up the slack that the employers aren't paying for their housing, healthcare, etc. It is beyond absurd.

But I think that even if we deported these illegals tomorrow, they should still have a right to sue those lawyers. It boils down to what happened to them just ain't right.

I really don't blame the immigrants who come here, I blame the employers and the system that makes this whole illegal worker system possible. I guess I look at it as if I was in their shoes, I would have done it too.

As for the people that are here already, I think we do have a responsiblity to the ones that just did what they were encouraged to do and were good citizens that stayed out of jail and off the dole. To me, this whole issue has some of the same earmarks as the institution of slavery. Sure, they came of their own free will and so it is not the same. But there are many parallels.
Posted by: anon   2006-10-07 13:06  

#13  Is there such a thing as a permanent resident status in the US?
Posted by: Bob   2006-10-07 12:49  

#12  it was a 2001 program, so the 9 years stated is SPIN. at best they were misled for 5 years, meaning they were illegal all the years before....lessee...9-5, carry the 7.... = 4 years that they acknowledge. How many years before then?
Wendy's owes them nothing. They paid the same taxes, SSI, etc. that we all pay. Should they be refunded? I call it the cost of a failed bid for amnesty. Anyone think a Wendy's employee gets full medical insurance? How many trips to the ER did they make? Kids in schools? Who paid for that? You.

FUCK em and their scumbag atty
Posted by: Frank G   2006-10-07 12:45  

#11  SpecOp - good point. I know that in some states the laws actually make it difficult for employers to verify employment if the employees produce adequate looking fake docs. What I've never understood is how, year after year, they can submit their taxes with a bogus ss# and it doesn't raise any flags.

I just want a fence and a fair legal system that allows workers to come into the US. No more of this crossing the border or shadow world. As for the 12 million here illegally - ONCE we have a GOOD system in place that prevents the illegal flow, I really don't have much of a problem with allowing the ones who have been long time, hardworking, good "citizens" to be screened and allowed to stay on. But I don't think they should get the actual right of citizenship until after all those who did it legally though. In my mind, we not only allowed but encouraged them to come up here and work. I don't support any form of amnesty until we have a good fence and the employers get hammered if they hire any more illegals without work papers.
Posted by: anon   2006-10-07 12:16  

#10  It seems like Wendy's knew exactly who the illegals were, doesn't it? All we hear is the same load of crap that employers can't verify documentation. What a load of horseshit. If you don't speak English fluently, 99.99% indication of illegal. Verify the documents. Does this lead to a supposition that half of McDonalds will close due to lack of workers ? What about all the chicken factories in the South ? Closing? No more chickee for you and me ?
Posted by: SpecOp35   2006-10-07 12:05  

#9  I usually agree with you, msgeek. But I disagree with you on this one. While I do agree with you that The fact that illegal immigrants have any legal standing in US courts, is a perfect illustration of how screwed up our immigration policies are, you can't ignore that these people were allowed to stay and work with the assumption that they were within a program that made their employment legal - for nine years. I understand the contradiction of my point of view - but these people were subjected to fraud and - in this case - I think they should have some standing regardless of their status.
Posted by: anon   2006-10-07 11:25  

#8  Boyar & Miller should be facing the lawsuits, not Wendy's. All the burger chain has to do is refund any of the withholdings and they're in the clear. I'd love to see the catfight that erupts with two law firms going at each other. The illegals would have to wait decades for a settlement and you just know that over 99.9999999% of any monetary award would be consumed by legal fees. I predict a per plaintiff rebate of 5¢.
Posted by: Zenster   2006-10-07 11:09  

#7  The fact that illegal immigrants have any legal standing in US courts, is a perfect illustration of how screwed up our immigration policies are.

Any "immigration reform" must include the codicile that if you are here illegaly, you have no right or standing in our judicial system, but are subject to summary deportation without hearing or trial.
Posted by: mcsegeek1   2006-10-07 10:57  

#6  well I thought your comment about Columbia students was pretty darn funny.
Posted by: anon   2006-10-07 10:40  

#5  I was just funnin - and you're right that something about taking their money and then "dropping the ball" smells fishy...
Posted by: .com   2006-10-07 10:36  

#4  It takes a doctorate to learn to say, "do you want fries with that?"

I should have used the word fraud instead of setup. I meant by the lawyers, not Wendys.
Posted by: anon   2006-10-07 10:32  

#3  Heh, yeah - all part of the plan - now they can hire cheap former Columbia students.
Posted by: .com   2006-10-07 10:26  

#2  Once the discovery was made, Wendy's was forced by law to fire the employees because of their illegal status. Immigrants in the program would have been insulated from being fired.


Here's the kicker. It appears that Wendy's was trying to do the right thing. Rather than just hire illegal aliens, it appears they did so using the law. I think that these illegal immigrants have a right to be angry - Nine Years of being told that you are in a legal program and having pay deducted from their check. I don't think they should get any punishment money - but I do think they have a very valid complaint.

The lawsuit, filed Friday in state district court in Houston, is a companion to a similar class-action suit filed last month in Dallas against Dublin, Ohio-based Wendy's, its subsidiary Cafe Express

Missing this deadline for a client like Wendy's in two cities? This almost smells like a setup.
Posted by: anon   2006-10-07 10:23  

#1  Stanley Broome, whose Dallas-area law firm, Howie, Broome & Bobo, is representing the immigrants.


I call malpractice for that ridiculous firm name alone. BTW, did Wendy's force you asholes to illegally enter the country? No. Were they required to facilitate your stay and employment in this country based on your job? No. STFU and deport yourselves. I hope Wendy's wins and gets their atty fees paid by Mr. Broome from HopingForALargeSettlement, LLP
Posted by: Frank G   2006-10-07 10:12  

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