Suit Claims Mohawk Employs Illegal Immigrants

Rome, GA, Jan. 7--Three former workers and a current employee at Mohawk Industries have filed a federal lawsuit accusing the carpet manufacturer of keeping wages down by hiring illegal immigrants. The lawsuit filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court claims that the company recruits the employees and accepts identity documents it knows to be fraudulent. It claims a pattern of illegal activity that violates the federal Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations statute, known as RICO, which is sometimes used by the government against mobsters. Mohawk, headquartered in Calhoun, GA, is the nation's second largest carpet manufacturer. It employs about 31,800 workers and reported $4.5 billion in revenue last year. The company's general counsel, Sal Perillo, said the allegations are "totally unfounded. "I've read the charges and they're preposterous," Perillo said. "We are going to vigorously defend ourselves." Bobby Lee Cook, one of the lawyers representing the plaintiffs, said Mohawk has hired "hundreds and hundreds of illegal immigrants" because it can pay them less and because illegal immigrants are unlikely to pursue worker's compensation claims if hurt on the job. "Mohawk has saved millions of dollars by employing illegal workers," Cook told the Rome News-Tribune. "Those savings have come at the expense of legal, hourly workers, who are paid less than they should be." Cook said the practice is common throughout northwest Georgia and accused the government of not making sufficient efforts to enforce immigration laws. The lawsuit is the fifth initiated nationally by Howard Foster, a Chicago attorney who specializes in class-action racketeering lawsuits. He has alleged that companies broke racketeering laws by hiring illegal immigrants in lawsuits against a cleaning company in White Plains, NY; an apple grower in Yakima, WA; a meatpacking plant in Joslin, IL, and Tyson Foods Inc., the poultry processing giant based in Springdale, AR. Federal judges dismissed all four lawsuits, but appellate courts reinstated two and will decide soon on whether to reinstate the other two, Foster said. The parties have settled one of the reinstated lawsuits, but an agreement prevents them from discussing the terms. The federal government said last year that about seven million illegal immigrants lived in the U.S. in 2000. That number includes an estimated 228,000 illegal immigrants in Georgia, up from 34,000 in 1990. A suit filed Tuesday against Calhoun-based Mohawk Industries accuses the carpet manufacturer of knowingly employing large numbers of illegal workers and depressing the wages of the current and former employees who are bringing the suit. The complainants, who filed their case in U.S. District Court in Rome, seek class-action status under the legal representation of a team of attorneys including Bobby Lee Cook of Summerville and Chicago attorney Howard Foster. “Mohawk has saved millions of dollars by employing illegal workers,” Cook said. “Those savings have come at the expense of legal, hourly workers, who are paid less than they should be. We want to stop these illegal practices and to see the class members receive the fair compensation they deserve.” Mohawk’s president and chief executive, Jeffrey S. Lorberbaum, could not be reached for comment. The company’s general counsel, Salvatore J. Perillo, said he could not comment yet since he had not seen the suit. The suit initially lists four plaintiffs, all Georgia residents--current hourly employee Bonnie Jones and former hourly employees Gale Pelfrey, Lora Sisson and Shirley Williams. But the suit contends the class of plaintiffs could include thousands of people--hourly workers and former hourly workers for Mohawk between Jan. 5, 1999, and the present.