Gates v. Rivers Construction Co.
Alaska Supreme Court
515 P.2d 1020 (1973)

- Written by Rich Walter, JD
Facts
John G. Gates (plaintiff), a Canadian living in Alberta, accepted an invitation from Rivers Construction Company (Rivers) (defendant) to come and work at the company’s Alaska offices. After Gates arrived in Alaska, Rivers gave him an employment contract to sign, which he did. As both Rivers and Gates knew, 8 U.S.C. § 1182 required any foreigner entering the United States for work purposes to have a permanent resident alien’s visa, which Gates did not have. The contract provided that the company would place Gates’s pay in escrow until his visa arrived, which it did only after Gates left the company. When Rivers refused to release his escrowed pay, Gates sued. The trial court granted Rivers’s motion to dismiss on the grounds that the contract was illegal. Gates appealed to the Alaska Supreme Court.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Boochever, J.)
What to do next…
Here's why 814,000 law students have relied on our case briefs:
- Written by law professors and practitioners, not other law students. 46,300 briefs, keyed to 988 casebooks. Top-notch customer support.
- The right amount of information, includes the facts, issues, rule of law, holding and reasoning, and any concurrences and dissents.
- Access in your classes, works on your mobile and tablet. Massive library of related video lessons and high quality multiple-choice questions.
- Easy to use, uniform format for every case brief. Written in plain English, not in legalese. Our briefs summarize and simplify; they don’t just repeat the court’s language.