The U.S. Supreme Court has deferred ruling
on a closely watched lawsuit that poses the question of whether an
employer can be sued under the federal racketeering and organized crime
law for recruiting illegal immigrants with the purpose of suppressing
salaries for legal workers.
The lawsuit was filed by current
and former employees of Mohawk Industries Inc., which manufactures
carpets and floor coverings, charging the company with violating
RICO—the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act—by
intentionally and systematically violating U.S. immigration laws. In
particular, the employees charged that Mohawk conspired with recruiting
agencies to hire thousands of illegal workers in order to lower
Mohawk’s labor costs. The employees charged Mohawk went down to the
Mexican border to recruit immigrants, provided housing for immigrant
hires, supplied immigrants with phony Social Security cards, and
offered payments to recruiters as an incentive to recruit illegal
workers.
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After the federal 11th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled
that Mohawk’s actions could indeed be the subject of a RICO lawsuit,
Mohawk appealed to the nation’s high court. But now, the U.S. Supreme
Court, without deciding the ultimate issue of whether RICO applied to
the facts in this case, vacated the appeals court ruling and sent the
case back to the appeals court for reconsideration. The appeals court
must now address whether the employees suing suffered “direct” injury—a
requirement of RICO—as a result of Mohawk’s actions. The employees have
argued that Mohawk’s illegal conduct was the reason why their wages
were so low.