D'Amico gives them 6 months to resolve the issue and the employees do nothing about it. Sounds like a no-brainer to me, D'Amico is in the right to protect themselves.

D'Amico & Partners is between a rock and a hard place, but I can hardly blame them for firing workers who are not legally in the United States. The firing are justified as long as D'Amico & Partners gave the fired workers ample time (maybe 1 to 2 weeks) to clarify their status. As it sounds to me, they were illegal workers.

Whether you agree or disagree with the merit of the law, hiring illegal workers is against the law. D'Amico & Partners is just protecting themselves and their interests.

The depositions might be interesting. "So, Mr. X, what is your social security number?"

Here we go again! D'Amico claims it put all "Hispanic" staff on notice to get the needed paperwork done (6 mos.). However, we don't really know that this is true. Also, how many of the employees were given time off to take care of these matters as the offices have only day hours and most of them work at these times. Shame on D'Amico! They got someone to do their "grunt work" and now they will just throw them away and hire "dyed in the wool" legals and pay them a few dollars more, although they won't get their "money's worth". I urge all concerned citizens to do the right thing and not frequent ANY of D'Amico and Sons dining establishments! Isn't it ironic that one of their establishments "Masa" is a "hispanic" themed restaurant? Who do you suppose is cooking and cleaning at that establishment for "slave wages"?

I find it interesting what the terminated employees are claiming ("D'Amico & Partners is not requiring re-verification from any non-Latino employees," they wrote to the EEOC. "D'Amico & Partners is reaching the conclusion that we are undocumented because we are Latino.") There is no way D'Amico would have "just terminated" these employees without first consulting their own attorneys. And I can't believe an attorney would "allow" D'Amico to pursue some employees, and not others. This just screams "lawsuit"!
The one thing not addressed by Paul in the original post was if D'Amico & Partners really did received "No Match" letters on any employees that were non non-Latino and did not pursue these employees like they did the Latinos. If they did not, that's a big issue!. If they did pursue these other employees, and if they did not comply, but they were not terminated, the terminated Latino employees have a valid complaint. But I really can't believe that a company as large and well known as D'Amico would do that.

Hmmm....sure sounds to me like some illegals are looking for some free money with a lawsuit. If you had six months to get this resolved, and yet as of yesterday you still hadn't done anything, what do you expect? As far as Latinos being "singled" out. Like another poster said, I highly doubt the attorney for D'Amico would allow that to happen. Most likely, the others had either already provided their SSN's, or if not, they were able to when asked.

Some of the terminated employees have worked there for 17 years...
They have been loyal to D'amico and this is what these so-called "illegals" get. The law doesn't force employers to fire workers in question and it is not issued by the INS or IRS.
D'amico is just looking for reasons to fire long-term workers in exchange for cheap, turnover labor.
These workers are wonderful people who have contributed to "America" and our economy for years, yet they will never be given the freedom it claims.

Please rethink the legal/illegal binary of defining who is and who isn't "American". It only hurts hard working people who simply want their families to live comfortably.

-In Solidarity

Wow, seems like people like to jump to ideologically-fueled conclusions with next to no information. I don't think this article provides enough information to objectively appreciate the full breadth of the situation from either side.

I don't support the xenophobia that's present in our culture right now. However, if D'Amico employed illegal workers knowingly or unknowingly and was "caught" in an administrative blip, what are they to do? The law as stupid as it is can penalize the organization which may affect all their workers, legal or not.

Perhaps the spirit around people's outrage should be directed at the government and its laws instead of a company that is forced to comply with those laws.

If a court rules that D'Amico discriminated against their workers, or a D'Amico insider offers such admissions, fly that flag once again. And I'll post in support of your outrage. Until then, speculation and hearsay does not an effective argument make.

I'm a big fan of Chimichangas...

Damico is as much a victim as those who were laid off. They lost good employees and those laid off lost their jobs. (sounds like they would not have if they were fully documented and eligible to work) The fault lies in Congress' foot dragging in getting a comprehensive immigration reform package through. Once an employer has constructive evidence that they may have an undocumented worker, continuing to employ them opens an employer to criminal charges with fines and potential imprisonment. No-match letters are indeed that. The administration had a good immigration plan that was largely backed by the League of Latin American Citizens but it was too liberal for the far right and the left was too disagreeable to act. In my humble opinion, I think that those who have done well in making their homes here and who have not committed any crimes other than being here illegally should be given a way to stay. I think they should be required to learn our language to reduce our expenses in schooling and government. I agree that they should repay for being here illegally (e.g. do community work). I think we should deport all those who have committed serious crimes (it's tough when their countries won't take them back) and quadruple our border security. I think we should have a guest worker program that allows them to come in and work (citizens get first priority). I think those guests that abide by our laws and contribute to society be given preference in the line for becoming citizens and that those in my first sentence be given preference in the guest worker program. We are a nation of immigrants. If they contribute to America's greatness, I'm all for it! They should be Americans, not Mexicans in America.

We should expend our energy where it does the most good - write your congressman. Vote. Going after employers will only make them more shy to hire people who MAY be undocumented. That
's not good for the latin american community. Threatening small business with discrimination charges by employees or with potential criminal penalties from the government doesn't do anyone any good. Fix the system - not the symptom.

The latin american addition to our melting pot is a good thing. Everyone knows that. I'm sure Damico knows that.

If they are legal they could have provided SSNs easily and they'll have no problem finding a new job with 10+ years experience at decent eating establishments.

If they are illegal D'Amico did the right thing by following the law.

What are you talking about? These workers mostly work late mornings to early evening or late afternoon to early morning, but not both and I'm sure they're schedules change or can be changed, so they don't need to be 'given' time off, they would have had plenty of time in the last six months to take care of this, if it in fact could be taken care of, i.e. they have a green card.

It was still a little hard to see the INS pull up in a van and chase protesters down the alley. I saw a at least one person in handcuffs and put in the back of a van... Undocumented or not, it's a shame to see people chased during a peaceful protest.