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Damage Control: Staking Claim To Employment Law Remedies For Undocumented Immigrant Workers After Hoffman Plastic Compounds, Inc. V. Nlrb, Elizabeth R. Baldwin

Seattle University Law Review

This Note explains why the Supreme Court's decision in Hoffman threatens to do the exact opposite of what the Court intended. Specifically, while the majority's opinion purports to maintain the integrity of IRCA, it will likely undermine the Act by encouraging employers to hire undocumented workers.' In addition to creating confusion, the Hoffman decision offends traditional notions of statutory construction by departing from both the text of the statute and the legislative intent. Furthermore, the holding has the de facto effect of forging a new way to investigate IRCA violations and grants employers a new defense to liability. Moreover, in …