Construction company reported worker to immigration officials as retaliation, lawyers allege
“They could have owned up to the consequences of what happened but they didn’t; they retaliated against an injured worker.”
José Martin Paz Flores had broken his leg after falling off a ladder at work, and his boss at Tara Construction had promised to help, telling him to come to the office at a specific time to collect a payment, Paz testified on Monday in federal court.
But minutes after Paz picked up an envelope stuffed with cash and hobbled to a friend’s truck on crutches, US Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents arrested him for living in the country illegally as his 2-year-old son looked on, Paz said.
“I was destroyed,” said Paz, 42, who is at the center of a civil lawsuit brought by the US Department of Labor against Tara Construction. The government alleges that the West Bridgewater company and its chief executive officer, Pedro Pirez, retaliated against Paz because he reported the 2017 accident, triggering an investigation by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.
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