Lesson: Don't hire "immigrant" janitors

Cleaning and Maintenance Management Magazine - which I consult on a daily basis to learn what's going on in that high-tech field - has an article entitled "Immigrant janitors file suit". (At post time, the ad to the left is promoting "Minuteman" products, which is apparently unrelated to the Project of the same name.)

The CMM post directs us to the news account "CEO denies direct connection to workers":

The suit claims 44 Eastern European and Mongolian immigrants regularly worked at three Fairfield Resorts Inc. time shares up to 85 hours per week as housekeepers and landscapers beginning in August 2002 and were never paid overtime.

The workers had to pay a deposit to start their jobs, weren't paid for three weeks of work in the spring of 2005, and have been harassed and threatened since they sought legal help, according to the lawsuit. Fairfield is named in the lawsuit as well as five companies and two men.

But Gary Clifton, CEO of Ambassador Solutions Inc. and Proline Management Corporation - Missouri contracting companies named in the lawsuit - said Friday he never directly employed the Williamsburg-area workers...

What do you want to bet that those "immigrants" are in fact illegal aliens? While there's the possibility that they were legal workers, the fact that their employer - whoever it may turn out ultimately to be - felt safe in allegedly abusing them would seem to indicate that they were here in somewhat shady circumstances.

Here's hoping this suit succeeds and those "immigrants" collect a large judgment. Then, let's hope that that result is printed in CMM Magazine, and it serves as a lesson to other janitorial companies.

Immigration2005b · Sat, 08/27/2005 - 11:24 · · Importance: 1