U.S. District Judge Lucy H. Koh dismissed most of the claims against Tesla and its contractor Eisenmann Corp. in a suit alleging visa fraud to illegally import low-cost foreign labor.
The federal judge dismissed the Fair Labor Standards Act, False Claims Act and Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organization Act claims in a third amended suit by the plaintiffs, and barred the plaintiffs from amending or re-filing.
As noted in a Law360 article, “Judge Koh determined that it was the end of the line for all of Lesnik’s claims because he struck a deal in June 2016 to release ‘all wage and hour and employment-related claims,’ among other things, against Tesla and Eisenmann.” the FLSA and FCA claims had to be tossed because Tesla and Eisenmann did not qualify as the plaintiffs’ “joint employers,” and were never under any obligation to pay the plaintiffs’ alleged visa fees. Some claims were also dumped because one of the plaintiffs had “struck a deal in June 2016 to release ‘all wage and hour and employment-related claims,’ among other things, against Tesla and Eisenmann.”
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