DALLAS — A class action immigration lawsuit has been filed against Cafe Express, its parent company Wendy's International Inc. and its former law firm on behalf of nearly 100 undocumented employees who were fired last week.
According to the lawsuit, the restaurant defendants and the Houston-based law firm missed a 2001 deadline to file paperwork that could have allowed the employees to become permanent U.S. residents. The employees then were fired because they lacked resident status.
"What am I supposed to tell my family?" said Jaime Chavez, one of the former employees who filed the suit. "The company said they could help me become a resident. Instead, I get punished because they messed up."
Under the Legal Immigration and Family Equity Act of 2000, undocumented immigrant workers were allowed to file for permanent residency status. The one-time opportunity was dependent upon their Alien Labor Certification Application being on file April 30, 2001.
Cafe Express developed a program in which the restaurant defendants and the law firm would complete and file the applications for the employees, and the company would deduct $25 from the employee's weekly paychecks to cover the legal fees.
However, plaintiffs allege that the law firm missed the 2001 application deadline. The employees were not notified of the mistake at the time, and the weekly deductions continued from May 2001 through December 2005.
"What happened here is unbelievable, and it was entirely avoidable," said Stan Broome, an attorney with Dallas' Howie, Broome & Bobo LLP, who is representing the fired employees. "These hard working people had a chance to become residents, but Cafe Express and their lawyers threw their best chance away."
The employees were informed of the missed deadline July 7, 2006, when Cafe Express sent a letter informing them that their applications could not be successfully completed. The employees also were told that unless they could prove that their applications were filed on time, independent of the law firm, they would be fired Sept. 15, 2006.
For more information, contact Stan Broome or Matthew Bobo at 214-574-7500 or Mike Androvett at 800-559-4534 or mike@legalpr.com.
