New England Biz Law Update
Five former workers at a restaurant in Willow Grove, Pennsylvania, have filed a federal lawsuit alleging forced labor, human trafficking, wage theft and discrimination.
The civil action, filed in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, paints a picture of abuse, intimidation, and exploitation that plaintiffs say spanned nearly a decade.
Allegations of fraud and coercion
According to the 73-page complaint, the restaurant and its affiliated corporate entities allegedly recruited undocumented workers and facilitated the creation of fraudulent work documents so these workers could be hired.
Managers allegedly arranged for workers to meet individuals in parking lots or on site to obtain fake permanent resident cards and Social Security cards, transactions for which workers paid in cash.
The plaintiffs claim this was no isolated occurrence. Instead, they describe it as an organized system that benefited the company by keeping labor costs low and leveraging workers’ undocumented status to silence complaints.
Harsh working conditions and threats
The following are among the allegations detailed in the lawsuit:
- Plaintiffs were required to work off the clock for hours each week and were denied overtime pay.
- They faced verbal abuse and were threatened with deportation if they did not meet management’s demands or complained about working conditions.
- Workers were denied basic breaks to eat or use the restroom, sometimes being publicly scolded over loudspeakers when they attempted to do so.
- Plaintiffs worked during the COVID-19 pandemic without proper safety precautions, while American coworkers stayed home.
- Plaintiffs were allegedly forced to work while sick or injured and were denied appropriate medical treatment, safety equipment and workers’ compensation.
The plaintiffs also describe physical and emotional harm, including injuries from burns, cuts, and exposure to unsafe temperatures, and enduring anxiety and humiliation from racial slurs and threats.
Enforcement climate
While the facts alleged in this lawsuit are extreme, the case will go forward at a time when U.S. businesses are facing a shifting and riskier enforcement environment.
Since returning to office, the Trump administration has placed renewed emphasis on workplace immigration enforcement, not only by targeting unauthorized workers themselves, but also by stepping up scrutiny of employers that fail to follow hiring, verification and I-9 compliance requirements.
Recent months have seen:
- Increased audits of employer I-9 records.
- New Department of Justice investigations into whether employers knowingly hired or continue to employ unauthorized workers.
- Larger civil penalties and, in some cases, criminal charges against corporate executives alleged to have facilitated or ignored illegal hiring.
For employers, these changes mean that the margin for error is shrinking. Even unintentional failures to verify work eligibility or turning a blind eye to suspicious documents can expose a company to steep fines, reputational damage, and potential liability under federal law.
