By Greg Hazley
Chipotle Mexican Grill has hired crisis counselor Mark Fabiani as the eatery chain faces a federal immigration audit and criminal probe of its workforce.
Chipotle, which has 1,100 restaurants and 26,500 employees in the U.S., has fired hundreds of workers amid the growing U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement probe. It hired attorneys from Washington, D.C., powerhouse law firms Patton Boggs and Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom as the U.S. attorney’s office in Washington joined ICE on the case, according to Reuters.
Fabiani is a partner in Fabiani & Lehane and a veteran crisis counselor from the Clinton White House. He takes up the Chipotle PR effort as another client, Lance Armstrong, continues to mount a PR defense.
Chipotle fired more than 400 employees in Minnesota late last year and about 40 in Washington, D.C., and Virginia earlier this year, according to reports, as the company said it found documents produced to verify eligibility for employment were fraudulent.
“The company believes its practices with regard to the work authorization of its employees, including the review and retention of work authorization documents, are in compliance with applicable law,” Chipotle said in its first quarter earnings report. “It is not possible at this time to determine whether the Company will incur any fines, penalties or further liabilities in connection with these matters.”
The Wall Street Journal reported last week an uptick in "silent" immigration raids. An addition 1,000 companies across all 50 states were notified by ICE that the government plans to inspect their operations, the paper said.
More than 2,000 companies have been audited by immigration officials in the current fiscal year.
Linhart PR works with Denver-based Chipotle. Chris Arnold, a veteran of Linhart, is PR director for the company.
Previously:
• Chipotle's 'Slow But Deliberate' Adoption of Social Media
• Taco Bell CEO: Chipotle is the BMW to Our Hyundai
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