Linda Chavez has withdrawn as George W. Bush's nominee for Labor
What was the legal basis behind Chavez's departure? On the lookout for answers, TIME.com conferred with Mark Miller, political science professor at University of Delaware; Cynthia Estlund, professor of law at Columbia University; and David Swider, a partner at Bose McKinney & Evans, an Indianapolis law firm specializing in labor and employment law.
Q: Does Chavez's withdrawal indicate guilt?
David Swider: We'll have to speculate on that one. But we do know that if Chavez had continued in her quest for confirmation, she would have run into laws against harboring illegal aliens [see below] — and she would have had a much tougher time dodging those questions than those about the employer-employee relationship and concurrent tax law.
Q: The question of week seems to be this: Was Marta Mercato actually working for Linda Chavez? Or was Chavez simply being friendly? If Mercato was working for Chavez, were any laws broken?
Mark Miller: Current labor law says if you compensate someone more than $1,000, there is an employment relationship, and you are required to fill out the requisite tax forms. It's unclear exactly how much Chavez gave Mercato — so we don't know if the limit was crossed.
Cynthia Estlund: Generally the definition of that relationship depends on the degree of control the employer exercises over the employee. Was there a direct quid pro quo? We know money exchanged hands, but was it for specific jobs? If the answer is yes, then Mercato was an employee.
Q: Let's say Mercato was an employee. Was Chavez required to pay her a certain amount?
Miller: Most jobs require at least minimum wage, including the jobs Mercato would have been performing around the house for Chavez.
Q: Was Chavez required to investigate Mercato's resident status?
Estlund: Legally, employers are required to verify if employees are in the country legally and able to work.
Q: What is law regarding illegal immigrants living in an American's house?
Miller: Harboring an alien has been against the law since 1952. In 1952, both houses of Congress adopted bills calling for sanctions against employers who illegally hired aliens. In conference committee, LBJ (then a U.S. senator from Texas) rewrote the law with what's called the "Texas proviso." The new language held that "no employer could be held responsible for employment of an unauthorized alien." Harboring (or giving shelter to an illegal alien) remained illegal, although there's been little if any enforcement. Then, in 1986, immigration laws corrected the Texas proviso and made it illegal for employers to use illegal immigrants as workers.