Quorum Report Daily Buzz Quorum Report Daily Buzz Login into the Quorum Report Subscribe toQuorum Report
Quorum Report Daily Buzz

May 31, 2017      2:07 PM

In lawsuit against illegal immigrant, McNutt's company retreated from claims it did not employ illegal immigrants

After the legal status of a former worker took center stage in Thomas McNutt’s challenge to Rep. Byron Cook in ‘16, Collin Street Bakery sued that undocumented immigrant but later quietly dropped the suit after retreating from claims that all their employees were authorized to work in the United States

As the campaign of Corsicana businessman Thomas McNutt for the Texas House begins in earnest tonight with a fundraiser at the home of Dallas megadonor Doug Deason, the Vice President of the Collin Street Bakery is once again pitching voters on the idea that he will take a hardline stance on illegal immigration in the mold of President Donald Trump.

Tensions over the issue are arguably as high as they have been in years. Following the passage of Senate Bill 4, Rep. Matt Rinaldi – who belongs to the same anti-establishment faction of the GOP as McNutt – this week drew international attention to the House floor after saying he called Immigration and Customs Enforcement to round up anti-SB4 protesters.

“People are tired of illegal immigrants receiving countless government handouts while we American citizens are stuck paying the bill,” McNutt said in his campaign announcement earlier this year.

But after McNutt’s first challenge of State Affairs Chairman Byron Cook was unsuccessful in 2016, largely because of revelations his company has employed undocumented people, legal actions stemming from that campaign are raising new questions about the Collin Street Bakery’s hiring practices.

Jose Manuel Santoyo, one of the young undocumented immigrants who used to work for McNutt and spoke out against him in 2016 in the Dallas Morning News and elsewhere, was sued this year by Collin Street Bakery over claims of defamation, Quorum Report has learned.

We have also learned that the suit was quietly dropped after McNutt’s company fully retreated from the argument that all its employees’ legal status were verified.

By Scott Braddock and James Russell

Click here to visit Austin Flag