Fresno farmworker reaches $1 million settlement in precedent-setting retaliation case

A Fresno farmworker recently dismissed a retaliation case against a Fresno-based attorney for reporting him to federal immigration officials, following a $1 million settlement experts say sets a precedent for all workers in similar situations.

Jose Arnulfo Arias took his case to the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, where it was dismissed Jan. 14, following the settlement agreement. In 2006, Arias sued his former employer, Angelo Dairy, in San Joaquin County, over wage and other workplace violations. At one point, his case landed at the state’s Supreme Court.

During the heavily litigated case, attorney Anthony P. Raimondo, representing the dairy company, in 2011 reported Arias to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). That first case was settled in 2011, but then California Rural Legal Assistance (CRLA) sued Angelo Dairy and its attorney, Raimondo, on behalf of Arias over retaliation for trying to get him deported.

The dairy company settled the second case in 2013, which is why the appeal was only against Raimondo.

Read more here: https://www.fresnobee.com/news/business/agriculture/article224756695.html