Employer Sued for Violating RICO by Knowingly Hiring and Assisting Illegal Workers

In light of the debate currently raging over Arizona’s new immigration law, it seems appropriate to consider an interesting recent development in immigration law enforcement in the employment law context.

In Edwards v. Prime Inc., 2010 U.S. App. LEXIS 7322 (11th Cir. April 9, 2010), the 11th Circuit recently held that former employees of an Alabama restaurant successfully pled an actionable claim that the restaurant had violated the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act by knowingly hiring illegal immigrants and giving them fraudulent identification and Social Security numbers. The Court reversed the decision of the district court, which had granted the restaurant’s motion to dismiss on that count.

For more details on this development, see this blog post about the case by Mark Engstrom, Editor of the CCH Rico Business Disputes Guide. You can also find a copy of the Edwards opinion here.

Please be sure to visit our website at http://RobertBFitzpatrick.com