Judge OKs Fines Against Company for Hiring Aliens

In the first such decision nationwide, a federal administrative law judge has upheld fines totaling $3,000 against a suburban San Diego manufacturer for violating provisions of the 1986 immigration law that make it a crime to hire illegal aliens.

However, Administrative Law Judge Marvin H. Morse, while upholding six counts against the firm, dismissed 11 others in the complaint filed last October by the Immigration and Naturalization Service.

The long-awaited decision was immediately seen as bolstering the procedures used by U.S. authorities to enforce the so-called “employer-sanction” provisions of the law. Federal officials have long said that such sanctions, including civil and criminal penalties against employers who hire illegal aliens, are the cornerstone of the new law. But some employers have objected to INS enforcement procedures, charging that the regulations are vague and that official instructions, notice and warnings have been insufficient.

In a 46-page decision made public Tuesday, Morse found that the employer, Mester Manufacturing Co. of El Cajon, had continued to hire six illegal aliens despite being adequately warned by INS inspectors that the firm was in potential violation of the law. The firm was fined $500 per employee.

Barry Mester, president of the company, showed “disdain” for the law’s requirements, Morse ruled.

The original fine imposed on the firm was $6,000. The judge dismissed 10 record-keeping counts because of technical “defects” in the charges and dismissed one other illegal-hiring count because of confusion about the worker’s identity.

“This is terrific,” said William Odencrantz, the immigration service’s regional counsel in Los Angeles. “I presume it (the ruling) is going to be trend-setting nationwide.”

Impact Seen as Negative

Peter N. Larrabee, attorney for Mester Manufacturing, agreed that the case could have wide ramifications--negative ones, by his reckoning.

“We believe that this ruling could be absolutely devastating to employers across the nation; they’ll have no place to turn,” said Larrabee, a former immigration service official.

Larrabee pointed to the case of three Mester workers who presented the employer with so-called “green cards,” which presumably allowed them to work in the United States. Although immigration inspectors advised Mester Manufacturing that the green cards were not valid, Larrabee contended that the employer could not dismiss the workers without opening the firm up to lawsuits for wrongful firing.

“The message to employers is that you cannot hope to win . . .,” Larrabee said. “You’ll either get nailed on employer sanctions, or you’ll get nailed for wrongful termination or discrimination.”

An appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals is being considered, he added.

100 Employers Fined

Nationwide, the INS has fined about 100 employers a total of about $350,000 under the new law. Most of the fines have been levied against employers in the West, a quarter of them in San Diego County, the key entry point for illegal border-crossers headed to Los Angeles and other U.S. job markets. Some defendants have settled the cases while others are disputing the fines. All fined employers have the right to request hearings before administrative law judges.

The case of Mester Manufacturing, which makes water beds and other furniture, was the first one nationwide to reach the hearing stage. It is also the first where an administrative law judge has rendered a decision following a full hearing.