Posted on 02/17/2004 7:56:09 AM PST by george wythe
In a case that could bolster a long-running federal grand jury probe into Northeast Florida's construction industry, an undocumented Mexican worker permanently paralyzed on a job site is filing suit today in Jacksonville against homebuilding giant D.R. Horton.
Jorge Gomez, 23, was injured Nov. 11 when a large beam fell on him and broke his neck at a D.R. Horton site in a Julington Creek subdivision, according to the lawsuit. The accident left him a quadriplegic.
As an illegal alien, Gomez has no workers compensation insurance and has run up $500,000 in medical bills at Jacksonville's Memorial Hospital, which continues to treat him, said Gomez's attorney, Gary Pajcic.
Julie Humphress, marketing director for D.R. Horton-Jacksonville, said the company has no record of Gomez, who was working for a framing subcontractor on the site. She said the homebuilder does not employ illegal aliens.
"We have no knowledge of this person. We know that this person was never employed by D.R. Horton," Humphress said. "We want everyone to be safe on our job sites."
Pajcic said that's part of the problem. "They should have a record. He should probably be in rehabilitation by now, but instead he's lying flat on his back in a hospital bed because D.R. Horton had no record of him," Pajcic said. "Jorge's catastrophic injury shows how these illegal business practices can have tragic human consequences. ... Maybe this lawsuit will lead to complete discovery of this problem."
(Excerpt) Read more at jacksonville.com ...
Countries that are supplying the illegal aliens should be forced to pay these type bills... especially Mexico since they are openly encouraging their people to violate our laws.
Furthermore, we require the subcontractors to carry insurance also. Nevertheless, sometimes the subcontractor will make a few payments on the his insurance and stop further payments, leading to a situation where he can show me a piece of paper claiming he has insurance when he does not.
It's frustrating, but it's part of the risk of doing business.
In order to further protect ourselves, the original general contractor was broken up into three different companies. In case one those companies has to go under due to a large adverse judgment, at least the remaining other companies that can provide some help to start over.
Yes, read comment #2.
The illegal labor market is being investigated in Jacksonville.
There are seven thousand attorneys who work for illegals night and day obstructing our laws. They support illegals caught in racketeering, drug smuggling, robberies and murder.
I'm sure the attorneys would love to be able to start suing Americans for illegals' injuries suffered on the jobs. I don't know why they haven't thought of that before now. I see the lawyer fee becoming an enticement for such suits.
As much as I want the border closed, and the illegals out, that simply isn't true. His "legal" status had nothing to do with a beam being dropped on him.
The trial lawyers' job is to remove the malignant growth of money in a businessman's bank account.
First of all, they will sue the honest businessman who tries to avoid hiring illegal aliens for discrimination. If we ask too many questions about prospective employees, or of we refuse to do business with subcontractors we suspect of hiring illegal aliens, we will get sued for discrimination against brown people
Furthermore, general contractors that don't deal with minority-owned subcontractors are not given access to many government contracts. These "minority" subcontractors tend to be 'sloppy' when it comes to hiring illegal aliens...
Then the lawyers turn around and sue us because we hired illegal aliens through the use of subcontractors.
It's a cat-n-mouse game plus Catch-22 rolled into one.
THAT is the PROBLEM!!!
Feds bury cases in "ongoing investigation" secret Grand Jury!!
I think a large part of the problem can be solved by privatizing the law enforcement as much as possible. It's very unlikely Congress will privatize the border patrol to stop the supply of illegal labor. But it is practical to pass legislation enabling the private sector to reduce the demand for illegal labor.
A good place to start is to hold employers liable for the medical expenses incurred by their illegal employees and to give hospitals currently forced to cover those expenses the right to recover from employers in civil courts. If states passed such laws, the cost of illegal labor would rise sharply, demand would fall, and fewer illegals would find it economically advantageous to flood the border.
This proposal doesn't address every problem but it does at least avoid the Achilles heel of most reform proposals: excessive dependence on government law [non-]enforcement. The only government action required is passing one law in each state (or one at the federal level). And I'm sure there is enough civic outrage in most states to force legislatures to pass the bills.
This problem is wide spead and it is kept alive by trial lawyers. I have witnessed illegals work for one day using a fake green card and complain of back injury.
It would seem to be in the interest of employers to only hire US citizens. But is that legal?
Irrelevant. Plenty of U.S. born persons have been injured in construction accidents.
What happened is his responsibility alone.
No, it simply is not, no matter how many time you want to say it. He and the subcontractor had an agreement - he worked, and in turn, was compensated. I highly doubt part of their agreement was "If you get hurt, tough luck". Aperson does not lose natural and human rights because they are in some geographic area "illegally". He still has the right not to be injured through the negligence of another. This isn't like some thug breaking into your house, cutting himself on your broken window, and demanding you compensate him. Not even close. The sub-contractor is 100% reposnisible for the injuries, unless the injured caused it himself(which isn't alleged in the story). His "legal" statuse does not remove liability from a negligent party.
Come here illegally and get hurt, tough. Cry to mother mexico.
That's a warped sense of repsonsibility you have there. So, are you telling me, that if I find a Mexican who just crossed the border, I have the legal right under the laws of this country, and the moral right, to beat him, rob him, rape him and enslave him? I mean, that is essentially what you are saying - the person has no rights and its "tough". Please clarify if that is not your belief.
sometimes the subcontractor will make a few payments on the his insurance and stop further payments, leading to a situation where he can show me a piece of paper claiming he has insurance when he does not.
Can you call the insurance company to check if the policy is paid up?
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