EEOC Vs. Moreno Farms Case Study

An estimated 8% of the United States workforce in 2014 were undocumented workers and an estimated 8 million unauthorized immigrants are employed each year. These undocumented workers are represented mainly in the agricultural and construction industries, although they make up a minority of workers in all industries. Many may be shocked by the large numbers of undocumented workers in the United States because it is illegal to knowingly hire or continue to employ undocumented workers. The Immigration Reform and Control Act (IRCA) went into effect in 1986 and is the statute that prevents employers for knowingly employing unauthorized immigrants. Many employers throughout the nation, however, ignore this statute or unknowingly employ an unauthorized immigrant. While employers must terminate or refuse to hire an employee upon learning of their unauthorized status, employers may not terminate these employees as a pretext for retaliation or discrimination.
Undocumented workers are at high risk for being exploited in the workplace. This is due to the common misconception that these workers have no employment rights. However, contrary to common belief undocumented workers have a number of rights in the workplace. Aforementioned, even the IRCA has provisions to protect immigrants from retaliation or discrimination in the workplace, …show more content…
Moreno Farms case is one that is important, especially for undocumented female workers in the agricultural field because they are so often exposed to this exploitation, but rarely speak up. Mainly due to their lack of knowledge about United States laws and their workplace protections, but also their immigration status and isolation from friends and/or family. Nevertheless there are many protections offered to these workers as well as NGOs and government agencies trying to spread more information about human rights in the workplace, and cases like EEOC v. Moreno Farms are paving the way for precedent to further protect these