Unusual illegal immigration class action suit could cost employers under federal anti-racketeering law

Yakima Herald

A Chicago lawyer who has described Yakima as "overrun with Mexicans" and "smothered by endless taco joints" will argue an unusual immigration case against executives of Zirkle Fruit Co. in a trial set to start in two weeks.

Howard Foster, who pioneered the use of a racketeering statute in immigration cases, will try to show in federal court here that Zirkle management purposely hired thousands of undocumented workers in order to depress wages and keep down costs. As many as 20,000 legal workers in the Yakima Valley were injured as a result, he argues.
If Foster wins at trial, the jury would decide in a second phase if legal workers — who have class-action status in the case — are entitled to damages and how much.
Those damages would be tripled under the federal racketeering statute. Each class member would receive a check for back pay based on hours worked from November 1999 to the present. I definitely recommend going to the web site checking out the rest of the story it is quite interesting.