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# Immigrant laborers prevail in court
- URL: https://www.smdp.com/immigrant-laborers-prevail-in-court/
- Published: 2003-02-10T16:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-23T01:31:42.000Z
- Author: John Wood
- Tags: Opinion, Downtown, #archive-import

Three immigrant laborers won more than $1,100 last month from a Santa Monica man who hired them but later refused to pay for their work.

The laborers, who share an apartment in downtown Los Angeles, told the court Thomas Buchanan hired them for repairs to his Copeland Avenue home in Santa Monica, which included constructing a concrete path and building an outdoor wall.

The three workers — Oscar Rivera and Tomas and Ricardo Valladares — were paid $1,492 for the job. But Ricardo Valladares, who managed the team, said he was shorted $1,114 and couldn’t fully pay his team or himself.

Ricardo Valladares claimed he was owed for 45 hours of his own labor, at $12 an hour, and a combined total of 69 hours for the other two workers, at $8 an hour.

Buchanan told the court he didn’t pay the workers the full amount because the City of Santa Monica later forced him to redo some of the work, claiming it was not performed to the city’s standards.

“We worked it out. At least I thought we had,” Buchanan said. “Then (Ricardo Valladares) came back wanting more cash.”

But Judge Pro Tem Edward Bennes ruled for the plaintiffs, saying it was clear they had worked the hours they claimed.

“They’re providing the labor,” Judge Bennes said. “They work with their hands.” On his way out of court, Buchanan had a final comment for Valladares. “No hard feelings Ricardo,” he said. “I just disagreed with you.”

*Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on February 10, 2003.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/021003.pdf?ref=smdp.com)