ACLU: Raided Calif firm mistreated illegal workers

by Staff for Associate Press via Business Week, view original article

August 31, 2010

LOS ANGELES -- Civil rights lawyers filed a federal lawsuit Tuesday against a government contractor that was the target of an immigration raid this summer, accusing the company of bilking illegal workers out of pay and violating their rights.

The suit accuses Terra Universal Inc. and its owner, George Sadaghiani, of denying illegal immigrant workers overtime and sick pay and discriminating against them because of their visa status.

"Our employment laws provide everyone equal workplace rights regardless of what country you came from, how you got here and your immigration status," said Jennie Pasquarella, a lawyer with the American Civil Liberties Union-Southern California, which is participating in the suit. "A fair day's pay for a fair day's work is a basic American rule, with no exceptions."

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