The Supreme Court appeared sympathetic to pleas by business advocates not to "RICO-ize" all types of business relationships, as Justice Stephen Breyer put it, during oral arguments Wednesday.
The Court heard debate in Mohawk Industries v. Williams, a class action brought against Georgia carpet manufacturer Mohawk Industries under the civil portion of RICO, the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act. Current and former employees of Mohawk claimed that its hiring of illegal aliens -- in concert with outside recruiting and temp agencies -- depressed wages and amounted to racketeering as defined under RICO. If the suit fits under RICO and the plaintiffs prevail, Mohawk would be exposed to treble damages and could be forced to pay plaintiffs' attorney fees.
"These are enormous penalties that are imposed," Mohawk's lawyer, Carter Phillips, told the justices. Congress passed RICO to target organized crime, he asserted, not ordinary dealings between businesses and their agents and contractors. "It is not free for the government or anyone else" to broaden the law unilaterally, said Phillips, a partner in the D.C. office of Sidley Austin.
In advance billing it appeared that the Mohawk case would draw the high court into some of the immigration issues causing controversy across the nation, including the contention that the corporate hiring of illegal aliens has had the indirect effect of keeping wages low for American citizens.
Instead immigration was barely mentioned, as oral arguments devolved quickly into a dense debate over the ambiguous wording of the RICO statute and whether a corporation like Mohawk can be part of a separate "enterprise" covered by the law.
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