Hoffman v. N.L.R.B

In Hoffman v. N.L.R.B., 535 U.S. 137 (2002), an employee of Hoffman had obtained employment by using false documents in violation of the Immigration Reform & Control Act of 1986 (IRCA), which makes it unlawful for employees to use fraudulent documents to establish employment eligibility and specifically makes it a crime for an unauthorized alien to subvert the employer verification system by using false documents. At issue was whether the employee, who had used fraudulent documents to obtain employment and who had been unlawfully discharged in violation of the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA), could be awarded back pay as an appropriate remedy. The Supreme Court held that awarding pack pay to the employee would run counter to the IRCA. (Hoffman v. N.L.R.B., supra, 535 U.S. at 151.) The Court ruled the NLRB could not award back-pay to an alien worker who was wrongfully terminated from his employment due to his participation in union activities. Specifically, the Court found that the award of such pay would contravene the purposes of the Immigration Reform and Control Act (IRCA) inasmuch as "under the [IRCA] regime, it is impossible for an undocumented alien to obtain employment in the United States without some party directly contravening explicit congressional polies" (Hoffman at 148).