08/11/07: La Hacienda Sues Protesters - Interfaith Coalition for Worker Justice

La Hacienda Sues Protesters

Business Hurt, Owner Says

The Capital Times :: FRONT :: A2

Saturday, August 11, 2007
Associated Press

(WNPJ member group Interfaith Coalition for Worker Justice is featured in the Capital Times report)

The owner of a Madison Mexican restaurant is suing two pro-immigrant groups that helped organize pickets outside his business to protest his employment practices.

David Herrera, owner of La Hacienda Inc., on South Park Street, contends the demonstrations have interfered with his business and customers. He's asking a judge to make the protesters tone down their tactics.

The suit filed this week names the Immigrant Workers Union, the Interfaith Coalition for Workers and two protest leaders. The groups are part of a coalition that advocates for immigrant workers.

The groups have organized the pickets since last month at La Hacienda. They say employees have been forced to work off the clock without pay and five former workers are each owed between $3,000 and $11,000.

Herrera denies those claims. La Hacienda paid $38,000 in back wages in January 2006 after an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor found wage violations.

In his lawsuit, Herrera says protesters have blocked the parking lot entrance and shouted so loudly that some potential customers were scared away and others on an outside patio couldn't enjoy their meals.

He is seeking an order to keep the picketers at least 10 feet away from the parking lot and patio and stop them from intimidating customers and "engaging in loud or boisterous speech" that interferes with meals. A hearing on the request is set for next week.

Patrick Hickey, a protest leader named in the suit, dismissed the allegations as untrue or exaggerated but said the protests have hurt La Hacienda's business.

Pickets scheduled for Saturday and Tuesday will go forward because protesters handing out leaflets to customers and chanting are entitled to free speech, he said.

"We need to let the public know this is the kind of operation that is being run here," Hickey said.