California Supreme Court Limits Recovery For Employees Who Misrepresent Their Immigration Status

On June 26, 2014, the California Supreme Court handed down Salas v. Sierra Chemical, a case at the intersection of employment and immigration law. Salas, a former employee of Sierra Chemical, filed suit alleging disability discrimination and wrongful termination. Prior to trial, Salas notified the court that he would assert a Fifth Amendment privilege to any questions regarding his immigration status. This apparently alerted Sierra Chemical, which investigated and discovered that Salas had wrongfully used someone else's Social Security Number when applying for the job. Sierra then moved for summary judgment. The trial court initially denied the motion only to be reversed by a writ issued by the Court of Appeal. On remand, the trial court granted the motion for summary judgment, and the Court of Appeal affirmed.

The Supreme Court was called upon to determine whether plaintiff's claims under the California Fair Employment and Housing Act ("FEHA") were barred by the doctrines of after-acquired evidence and unclean hands, and whether California Senate Bill No. 1818, which states that "[f]or purposes of enforcing state labor...