“To find they are entitled to payment if they lack an SSN, but not if they try to conceal that fact, would deny them protections they are entitled to under the WHL and WPL.”

An undocumented worker was entitled under New Jersey wage and hour law to appropriate wages for work he had already performed as a superintendent of a realty management company, the New Jersey Supreme Court ruled, and neither his immigration status nor the barter arrangement with his employer provided grounds to deny his claim. Reversing and remanding to a different trial court judge, the state high court also found the trial court erred in considering the employee’s use of an invalid SSN in the manner it did to dismiss his lawsuit on credibility grounds (Lopez v. Marmic LLC, No. 089632 (N.J. Sup. Ct. Mar. 19, 2026)).

The owner of the residential and commercial realty company hired the plaintiff to work as the superintendent of two of its buildings, but at the time he applied, the plaintiff provided an invalid SSN on a W-4 form. The owner offered the employee $400 per week plus an apartment, for which the plaintiff was to pay $800 per month in “reimbursement.”

Invalid SSN. When the owner discovered the SSN was invalid, he told the plaintiff he could not pay him because it would be “against the law.” Instead, he offered to let him live in the apartment rent-free while continuing to perform his superintendent duties, including cleaning common areas, picking up garbage, removing snow and leaves, sweeping...

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