Catherwood LibraryILR School

The Supreme Court continues its deliberations in a case involving an illegal immigrant, hired under a false name, who was fired by a California plastics company for his involvement in a union organizing campaign, and is expected to issue an opinion this spring. The case, which stems from a 1998 National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) ruling that the firing was an unfair labor practice and that the company had to rehire the employee and pay back pay plus interest, will have a huge impact on the ability of illegal immigrants to unionize. While the U.S. solicitor general?s office---arguing the case for the NLRB---has pointed to the necessity of maintaining labor rights protections for immigrants as a means of preventing companies from exploiting them as a source of cheap, expendable labor, in hearings last month several justices seemed to agree with the employer?s position that it should not have to pay for firing someone who could not legally work in the first place.