Dozens of highly publicized workplace raids on companies employing undocumented workers have underscored the risk of ignoring federal immigration laws. But if an employer unknowingly hires undocumented workers, do those workers have the same rights as legal workers to engage in union activity? And if an employer subsequently discovers the workers are here illegally, must he or she still honor those rights?
A New York meat products wholesaler found out the hard way that the answer is yes. As a result, employers will have to live with what one judge described as a “peculiar” rights-of-employees ruling by the District of Columbia Circuit–at least until the Supreme Court or Congress decides to clear the air.
“The analysis followed by the court in this case is not completely crazy, but I think it’s wrong,” says Jeffrey Braff, member in Cozen O’Connor’s Philadelphia office.
