By AP | 26 Feb 2007 | 12:47 PM
The Supreme Court on Monday said it
has declined to consider an appeal by a carpet and
floor-covering company that was sued by its employees for
hiring illegal immigrants in an effort to depress wages.
Mohawk Industries
had sought to have the case dismissed, something lower
federal courts had declined to do. The Court's decision
allows the suit to proceed in federal court.
The case was argued before the
Supreme Court in April last year but the justices did not
issue a ruling. Instead, they sent it back to a lower court
to be reconsidered in light of a decision by the justices in
a similar case.
The 11th Circuit Court of Appeals
ruled last September that the lawsuit by Shirley Williams
and other Mohawk workers could go ahead, however. The carpet
and floor coverings company then appealed to the Supreme
Court a second time.
At issue in the case is the use of
civil lawsuits under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt
Organizations Act, or RICO, which was originally intended to
fight organized crime. Williams and the other Mohawk
employees charge that the company violated RICO by
conspiring with employment recruiting agencies to hire
illegal workers in an effort to lower wages.
The workers claim they received
lower wages than employees at other companies in the
northern Georgia region where Mohawk is based. The area is
known as the "Carpet Capital of the World" and is home to
carpet plants for Shaw Industries, Interface and other
companies.
Calhoun, Ga.-based Mohawk argues
that its contracts with outside employment agencies do not
constitute a racketeering enterprise and the workers were
not directly harmed by the conduct alleged to have violated
RICO.
The case is Mohawk Industries Inc.
v. Williams, 06-873.
