Hoffman Plastic Compounds, Inc. v. NLRB: Supreme Court to Hear Back Pay Case Involving Undocumented Worker

IMMIGRANTS & EMPLOYMENT

Immigrants' Employment Rights and Remedies

[For more information about subsequent cases that interpret the Supreme Court's decision in Hoffman, search the newsletter articles available here or search NILC's site for "Hoffman Plastic Compounds". For more on the Court's actual decision, see http://www.nilc.org/immsemplymnt/emprights/index.htm#hoff.]

Hoffman Plastic Compounds, Inc. v. NLRB: Supreme Court to hear back pay case involving undocumented worker
Immigrants' Rights Update, Vol. 15, No. 6, Oct. 8, 2001

The U.S. Supreme Court has granted an employer's petition for writ of certiorari in a labor case involving workers, including an undocumented immigrant, who had been discharged in retaliation for engaging in union organizing activities.

The union filed a charge with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), which found the employer had violated the National Labor Relations Act of 1935 (NLRA). However, during attempts to resolve a dispute as to the amount of back pay due the illegally fired workers, the employer learned about the undocumented immigrant and his improper use of a birth certificate to obtain his job. The employer contested that worker's eligibility for back pay. The case made its way to the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals, which ruled that, despite his undocumented status, the worker was entitled to back pay up to the date the employer learned of his immigration status and false use of documents (see "D.C. Circuit Affirms the Right of Undocumented Workers to Receive Back Pay," Immigrants' Rights Update, Feb. 28, 2001, p. 12). The employer appealed that ruling, and now the Supreme Court will decide whether the NLRB's award of back pay was appropriate. The Court granted the certiorari petition on Sept. 25, 2001.

Hoffman Plastic Compounds, Inc. v. NLRB, No. 00-1595, 2001 U.S. LEXIS 5348 (Sept. 25, 2001).