HIPR, NAmILG, and Winston Shay are attacking the right to organize by suing Abigail, Joshua, and Madeline.

At the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, paralegals at HIPR – an immigration law firm also operating under the names North America Immigration Law Group, Talentopia, Chen Immigration, Wegreened, and more – began organizing a union for better pay, improved conditions, and fair treatment. On July 22, 2021, more than two thirds of the workers signed union cards and filed for a union election under the banner of Hudson Workers United.

Instead of simply recognizing the union and negotiating a contract with their workers, HIPR began a harsh union-busting campaign, instituting sweeping changes to working conditions, outsourcing and offshoring work, creating shell companies to hide potential members from the union, unlawfully disciplining union leaders and members, and illegally terminating union leaders including (but by no means limited to) Abigail, Joshua, and Madeline.

In the winter of 2022, HIPR ramped up its campaign of anti-union terror by sending Abigail, Joshua, and Madeline and several other organizers legal threats. Then, in May 2022, Abigail was sent a cease-and-desist letter making false allegations against her. Furthermore, the company altered its social media profiles to make untrue, defamatory statements against Abigail and Joshua, making them the most visible aspects of these accounts. Eventually, union members discovered that several of the company’s official URLs redirected to hipr-news-update.com, a site management created in a desperate attempt to red bait Joshua and Abigail and smear their good names. The site, much like HIPR’s Glassdoor and Linked-In profiles, brands Abigail and Joshua as “criminals” and encourages people to contact HIPR with information about the workers. The accusations listed are either invented whole cloth or based on untrue, sensationalistic “reporting” from a right-wing, tabloid press with a notoriously problematic relationship to the truth.

Nor did the smears end there. In May and June 2022, Abigail’s family became targets of harassment, with fake accounts appearing across the internet baselessly accusing her family members of human trafficking in a move that resembles QAnon tactics. HIPR management further republished anti-Semitic death threats against Joshua at a time when the EEOC was investigating the company for religious discrimination (among other things).

In August 2022, HIPR filed suit against Abigail and Joshua in Illinois, absurdly portraying their pro-union efforts as a conspiracy to benefit Joshua’s family. Shortly after, the company filed a second lawsuit against the two, this time in Michigan, once again attempting to portray their union activities as a grand conspiracy against the company. Fortunately, a judge quickly found this second lawsuit was a blatant attempt to suppress Abigail and Joshua’s right to organize, dismissing the suit with prejudice. Theoretically, this should have prevented HIPR from suing again over the same issue.

Alas, the company was not to be deterred. Hence, in January 2024, HIPR filed a third lawsuit in Texas. This suit targeted Abigail and Madeline even though neither of them had ever lived or worked in Texas. The new suit reiterates points from the dismissed Michigan suit, baselessly claiming that Abigail and Madeline used the Hudson Workers United email address for “work-related purposes” and to steal company documents “with [an] intent to deprive [HIPR] of its property.”

Under the National Labor Relations Act, workers have a right to organize a union and engage in collective activity to demand better hours, wages and working conditions. Hence, HIPR’s lawsuits are obviously “Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation” (“SLAPPs”) — ones designed to censor, intimidate, and silence critics and hinder the right to organize.

If employers are allowed to retaliate against workers’ organizing efforts with these kinds of lawsuits, the entire labor movement is in jeopardy. Unfortunately, defending against such suits is extremely expensive, quickly exceeding the means readily available to paralegal union organizers. To this end, we are asking for movement solidarity to raise the funds needed to defend the right to organize.

Can you donate today to defend labor rights in the United States from HIPR’s vicious attack?