A Dogged Laborer Finally Gets Paid

Fidel Chicas got paid Tuesday.

Nothing too unusual about that, except that Chicas, a 66-year-old grandfather and mason from El Salvador, did the work for his paycheck more than two years ago. Since then, he has waged a tireless battle to collect his wages from his former boss, developer Gary Mamian, who refused to pay even after Chicas had won a $1,006.44 award in court.

On Tuesday, Chicas was handed a $600 check in the penthouse office of Beverly Hills attorney Marvin S. Lanter--a collections expert--who took over the laborer’s case free two months ago and persuaded Mamian that it was in his best interests to settle.

“I don’t feel great about this, but I guess it’s OK,” said Chicas as he sat in Lanter’s office. “I had to wait a long time for the money, and my family had to eat.”

Chicas saw in his victory a lesson for other immigrant laborers who are cheated out of wages. “They’ll see my money,” he said, “and learn that they have to protect their rights.”

An unrepentant Mamian said he did not pay Chicas for so long because a subcontractor--not Mamian--failed to pay the laborer in the first place. Mamian also said that Chicas had agreed to settle the case for $200 almost two years ago, and was paid in cash by Mamian’s apartment manager with the developer’s permission.

When asked if he had any written record of the payment, however, Mamian said he was unsure, explaining that he did not offer this version in court because he “just found out about it a month ago.”

Chicas said Mamian was fabricating the story.

Linda Mitchell of the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles said Chicas’ case has already inspired more day laborers to pursue wage claims.

“I kind of look at him as the Latino version of ‘Roger and Me,’ said Mitchell, referring to the documentary film about one man’s dogged pursuit of General Motors Chairman Roger Smith. “This quest he went on. . . . He’d sit out in front of Gary Mamian’s business for hours trying to find him. He is an inspiration to people.”

The dispute began in February, 1988, when Mamian picked up Chicas and six other laborers at Santa Monica Boulevard and Berendo Street in Hollywood, promising to pay them $10 an hour for plastering work at a Los Feliz condominium building, Chicas said.

The men worked at the condominiums for three weeks. They were fired when they refused to work after 6 p.m., complaining that it was growing dark and that the scaffolding they were working on was unsafe, Chicas said.

A few days later, they tried to collect their unpaid wages at Mamian’s construction office, but were told he was not in. The other workers gave up, but Chicas’ fight was just beginning. He sued Mamian. He staked out Mamian’s offices and home. He won his case in Small Claims Court and then again in Superior Court, when Mamian failed to appear on his own appeal.

But Chicas couldn’t get the $1,006.44 awarded him by a judge last October. Mamian, who was also involved in litigation with other creditors, was an elusive target, even denying knowing Chicas when he and volunteers from the Central American Refugee Center confronted him outside his Hollywood condominium last February.

Last spring, attorney Lanter met immigrant rights activist Mitchell at a United Jewish Federation conference at the Beverly Hills Hotel, and volunteered to help Chicas get his money.

Lanter said he contacted Mamian’s attorney and laid out in detail the exhaustive legal proceedings, including the subpoenaing of Mamian’s entire financial life, that would follow if Mamian continued to refuse to pay. A month later, Mamian agreed to pay $600.

“It’s not a very pleasant way to get things resolved,” said Lanter. “I told (Mamian’s attorney), ‘You can do things the easy way or the hard way.’ Fortunately, we did the it the easy way. The man should have been paid, and he’s being paid.”

With the check finally in his pocket, Chicas said his main concern is finding work again.

“I haven’t worked in three weeks,” he said. “It’s hard to get work at my age.”