Lonewacko notes an encouraging development in the case of legal immigrants who filed a lawsuit against a big orchard owner in Washington’s Yakima Valley. The plaintiffs charged that orchard executives “conspired to depress farmworkers’ wages by hiring large numbers of illegal workers to set low wage standards for orchard and packing house work.” Their class action lawsuit has now been certified:

The class action lawsuit was originally filed in United States District Court in March of 2000 under the Federal Racketeer and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) and is the first of its kind in the U.S. where legal workers have sued agricultural employers about intentional wage depression through the use of illegal labor.

Now certified as a class action, the suit represents an estimated 20,000 packing house and orchard workers of Zirkle Fruit Company, based in Selah, Washington and those legal workers hired by Selective Employment Agency to work in Zirkle’s packing house operations.

Seattle attorney Steve Berman filed the lawsuit on behalf of three named plaintiffs. “We know from our investigation that a large percentage of workers hired by Zirkle are illegal. These workers know that they are not in any position to demand a fair wage, and as a result, illegally depress the wages of legal farm workers,” Berman said. “It is an insidious cycle that exploits the illegal workers and victimizes the legal ones.”

According to the lawsuit, Zirkle Fruit Co. conspired with Selective Employment Agency to hire illegal immigrants who would work at below prevailing wage standards at Zirkle’s packing house. The company used Selective Employment as a front, buffering it from liability with the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS), the suit claims.

“We believe Zirkle’s actions are horridly unfair to the immigrant workers who have taken the legal channels to work here-making sacrifices at every step of the way to create a better life for their families,” Berman added. The suit seeks an end to the practice by Zirkle, and compensation for the class members.

Good. It’s way past time to turn up the heat on illegal alien employers and enforce Reagan-era sanctions against companies that subvert border security. If the federal government won’t do it, lawsuits are the next best thing. Yeah, trial lawyers are by and large rapacious sharks. But any trial lawyer who understands the importance of immigration enforcement and comes to the aid of law-abiding workers is alright by me.

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