Los Angeles Equestrian Center

[Amberley]

What can they do? They aren’t the employers.

[Harriet1]

@Amberley

I agree with you in general but LAEC was already paying all those fees and those jobs started at $20/hr. It’s a city owned facility and the management company has to abide by city law.

When ASM took over 3 years ago they reportedly did e-verify all the employees but somehow 40 people managed to hang on to their jobs until the recent threats by ICE when they were magically discovered to be undocumented and fired. Clearly ASM knew or could have known had they cared to. The people who were fired were not paid out accrued leave which is in direct violation of the LA city employment laws. The remaining staff were told they’d have to cover all the work and quite rightfully walked off on strike. ASM Global owned by private equity and billionaires- and whoever is managing the contract for the city of LA have walked away scot free, are barely even mentioned in the media. All the consequences fell on the most vulnerable people.

Boarders and people who were at LAEC during the fires, and who were helped by these staff, have quietly made good on what they can but were kicked off GoFundMe and other online platforms.

Really informative, thank you for sharing all this background context.

The city of LA should financially penalize ASM and rebate boarders part of this month’s fees. ASM failed to provide critical services that people paid for!

Why has GoFundMe kicked off people for trying g to support these workers? Is there something illegal about trying to fundraise to support vulnerable people who are caught up in a bad situation?

[Amberley]

GoFundMe is for-profit and is also owned by private equity…

[Amberley]

Ok- supposedly this is not true and is just a rumor related to something that happened in a previous fire so I’m gonna delete it.

[axl]

@Amberley

reportedly one private facility charged evacuees $300 for the day they could not access the designated shelter taxes pay for (the designated shelters are reimbursed by the city).

I think we should publicly shame that asshat, personally. Price gouging during an emergency is despicable.

[crackerjack]

Question… And forgive me if it’s already been asked.
If ICE goes to a boarding facility (or any organization but just keepin’ it horse related…) and nabs undocumented employees, do the employers suffer consequences for employing them? Why aren’t they thrown in jail? ( Or off to Guatemala…)

[Amberley]

It didn’t happen to me it’s just a rumor so I’m not going to say who. CA has a robust anti-gouging law related to fires so if it really happened I’m sure they will get fined.

[Annie10]

@crackerjack

Question… And forgive me if it’s already been asked.
If ICE goes to a boarding facility (or any organization but just keepin’ it horse related…) and nabs undocumented employees, do the employers suffer consequences for employing them? Why aren’t they thrown in jail? ( Or off to Guatemala…)

They absolutely should.

[findeight]

Employers who knowingly hire undocumented workers can face charges…key word being knowingly.

[neigh]

@Amberley

Boarders and people who were at LAEC during the fires, and who were helped by these staff, have quietly made good on what they can but were kicked off GoFundMe and other online platforms.

Good question. Answer anyone?

[neigh]

You think the fruit and vegetable industry should be charged?

[kenyarider]

Poorly written question. What is the situation there now? Just asking for an update.

[Amberley]

I’m not there but supposedly the city pulled employees from their parks and rec dept to help out. Lots of rumors swirling and people unhappy with the city.

[Annie10]

@neigh

You think the fruit and vegetable industry should be charged?

I think ANY employer who hires them should be charged

[neigh]

My question was to find eight, not you.

[Annie10]

@neigh

My question was to find eight, not you.

Oh excuse me I thought this was public forum . You probably should pm people if you want an exclusive response .

[findeight]

Ummm, I just answered the question if employers can be charged for knowingly hiring undocumented workers in any industry.

[volvo_240]

A local PD in Maine used e-verify for a seasonal officer.

He was picked up and detained (I haven’t followed up so not sure if he’s still being held).

So it may not even matter.

[4horses]

The fallout of this may end up being euthanasia for more horses. There are a lot of people who will balk at paying that kind of money as their horse gets older and is no longer suitable for use.

When I worked at the horse retirement home there were a lot of emails. “Please, can you take in Duchess for retirement? She’s the sweetest horse ever but they need her stall for the new boarder and they will euthanize her if they can’t find her a new home…”

Some barns routinely euthanize horses that are no longer fit for use without even trying to rehome or retire their animals.

[Annie10]

That’s not necessarily a bad thing if an animal is getting older and “less useful”. It’s a hard decision but there are only so many resources available as they age and a needle is way better than the fate too many of them have.