Five immigrant day laborers have filed a federal lawsuit, alleging that off-duty Chicago police officers committed a series of "discriminatory, unlawful, and brutal abuses" against them at a local Home Depot. Joined by the civil and labor rights advocacy group Latino Union, which began investigating the laborers' stories late last year, the laborers bring 17 separate claims of civil rights violations under federal and state law, Courthouse News reports. Defendants include several Chicago police officers, the City of Chicago, Home Depot, and John Doe's home improvement store employees. The plaintiffs' lead attorney Kevin Herrera, of the labor rights group Raise the Floor Alliance, told Courthouse News he hoped the city would be interested in reaching a "speedy resolution" to the complaint, not discounting the possibility of a settlement. Home Depot has a policy against solicitation, and the workers claim the company hired the off-duty police as extra security to enforce it.
In their lawsuit, the plaintiffs detail incidents between last October and May where they say both the police and Home Depot's own employees illegally detained and beat them inside the store. One of the plaintiffs says the defendants broke his wrist; another recalls being shoved to the ground and told in Spanish that he "took a shit on the American flag." Police reportedly punched a third plaintiff in the stomach, after which they laughed at him and called him a "pinche Venezolano," Spanish for "fucking Venezuelan." Three of the laborers further claim the police forced them to sign paperwork in English that they didn't understand, and four were charged with criminal trespass to property. Three of the charged men eventually had their cases dismissed, with the fourth still awaiting a court hearing. Collectively, the plaintiffs say the police department, city and Home Depot conspired to criminalize their attempts to find work through this harassment. In addition to compensatory and punitive damages, the plaintiffs seek a finding that their civil rights have been violated and an order barring all defendants from engaging in discriminatory actions — on duty and off.
Comments