Posted on 10/18/2005 4:23:08 PM PDT by Ironclad
The Second District Court of Appeals ruled late yesterday that illegal aliens who obtain employment dishonestly are still entitled to workers comp benefits. The ruling (Farmer Brothers Coffee v. WCAB, Rafael Ruiz) leaves employers, even those who do not knowingly hire illegal aliens, on the hook for the costs of their workers comp benefits both medical and indemnity.
The case involves one Rafael Ruiz who was injured in 2002 while working for Farmer Brothers Coffee. During the deposition process Ruiz admitted -- unbeknownst to Farmers Brothers -- to using a false social security and green card to obtain employment. Based on his immigration status Farmer Brothers denied employment of Ruiz and thus benefits, invoking both the Federal Immigration Reform Control Act (IRCA) and specific sections of the California Insurance Code.
The Second District ruled IRCA is meant to sanction employers for employing illegal aliens, not diminish in any way labor protections in existing law, or to limit the powers of federal or stateor labor standards agencies.
The court says that California has made it clear that an employees immigration status is not a bar to receiving benefits or unscrupulous employers would be encouraged to hire illegal aliens, thus relying on the feds to believe their good faith statements that the employees documents were genuine. The Workers Comp Appeals Board, the court reasons, would then be thrust into the role of enforcing federal law and determining an injured workers immigration status.
In a technical ruling, the court says that Ruiz did not violate the California Insurance Code by using false documentation to obtain workers comp benefits because the documents were used to obtain employment, not benefits. Only if Ruiz had been previously convicted for using fraudulent documents could he be denied benefits, the court rules.
Dishonest employers who knowingly employ illegal aliens to put them in harms way should be fined, and the court points out that an employer is required to terminate an illegal once the immigration status becomes known. But according to the law, the court concludes, an employer is still obligated to pay a benefita mandatory benefitassociated with employment, even though the employment was illegally obtained.
The principal has not yet wound its way to the California Supreme Court and the issue of separating medical from indemnity claims based on the principal that the indemnity payment is a form of illegal employment may still rise.
Oddly, reading this I have never before felt so LEFTISH.
LOL! I would say all business is against the current sham and tax called workers comp.
Oh yeah BTW, illegal aliens are following the example of native born Americans who milk this system(i.e the thousands of pictures of so called disabled workers on workmens comp, but are seeing playing in softball games or putting a new refridgerator in their kitchen).
Fernando Ortiz was a ‘landscape engineer’ on Long Island who had demanded to be able to vote, on the basis that he had been paying state and federal taxes for ten years. Actually, he had been stopped from casting a ballot by a poll watcher who had suspected his citizenship status, and (illegally, as it turned out) demanded proof of his identity and legal qualification to vote. Ortiz had won a multi-million dollar settlement against the Republican Party of New York in the subsequent “racial profiling and ethnic intimidation” civil suit, but he did not stop there.
Instead, with massive support from the ACLU and various Hispanic “immigrants rights” foundations, he had pressed his demand to be allowed to vote all the way to the Supreme Court…and he won. The Supreme Court, in its famous 5-4 decision, ruled that negligence in securing America’s borders against illegal immigration on the part of the federal government, could not be held against “undocumented workers who played by the rules and paid their taxes,” once they were established in America—legally or not. The federal government had not taken reasonable efforts to secure the border, and had not pursued "undocumented workers" in the USA. Instead, it openly permitted them most of the benefits of citizenship, and it collected their taxes. "No taxation without representation!" was the cry heard all the way to the Supreme Court. The State of New York had then sleep-walked through an aimless and desultory case for denying the vote—and citizenship—to “undocumented workers.”
Following Ortiz v. New York, a stunned America woke up to discover that there were not only an amazing twenty-two million illegal aliens hiding in plain sight across the land, but that eight million of them immediately qualified to vote. In a nation split 50-50 down party and ideological lines, these eight million new voters were recognized to be the certain majority-makers in future elections, and both parties set record lows for cravenness in pandering to their “needs.” Chief among their “needs” were liberal new family reunification laws, and these instant citizens—illegal aliens only a year before—began bringing the remainders of their families to the USA. Legally.
Overnight, wavering Democrat states became locks, and swing states with large Hispanic populations went solidly “blue.” The result was the recent election which had brought Gobernador Deleon to power in Nuevo Mexico, and had also brought radical Democrats to power in the White House and both houses of congress.
Thus had come the political tsunami which swept all before it, a tidal wave triggered by an undocumented lawn maintenance worker named Fernando Ortiz.
I wonder if Felix Ortiz - the most famously flaming liberal elected moobat of hispanic orgin in NY is his brother....
I love it when you talk dirty.
ping
I disagree, I think they would rather just drop them off at the nearest emergency room and walk away and let us taxpayers cover the costs.
Take the benefits out of the amount budgeted for the judges salaries and the expenses of the court. When the cash is gone, let the judges go home or apply for benefits.
The courts are just enforcing the Summit of the America's plan of action for migrant workers (illegal aliens). In this international agreement, the US has pledged to treat migrant workers(illegal aliens) just like 'nationals'or citizens. If citizens are entitled to workmens comp, then migrant workers (illegal aliens)are.
***
Second Summit of the Americas
Santiago de Chile, Chile April 18-19, 1998
The following document is the complete text of the Plan of Action signed by the Heads of State and Government participating in the Second Summit of the Americas:
Protect the rights of all migrant workers and their families, consistent with each country´s internal legal framework, by taking steps, in case they do not exist, to: 1) provide, with respect to working conditions, the same legal protection as for national workers; 2) facilitate, as appropriate, the payment of full wages owed when the worker has returned to his/her country, and allow them to arrange the transfer of their personal effects; 3) recognize the rights of citizenship and nationality of the children of all migrant workers who may be entitled to such rights, and any other rights they may have in each country; 4) encourage the negotiation of bilateral or multilateral agreements, regarding the remission of social security benefits accrued by migrant workers; 5) protect all migrant workers and their families, through law enforcement and information campaigns, from becoming victims of exploitation and abuse from alien smuggling; 6) prevent abuse and mistreatment of all migrant workers by employers or any authorities entrusted with the enforcement of migration policies and border control; and 7) encourage and promote respect for the cultural identity of all migrants.
http://www.summit-americas.org/chileplan.htm#Migrant%20Workers
Your post simply makes no sense when you say businesses are for workers comp for illegal aliens, then you post an article where the business is challenging the workmans comp being given to the illegal alien.
You are completely contradicting yourself.
They're just angry they can't both hire illegals AND forego buying comp insurance.
I've always maintained that we have FDR to thank for our current dilemmas but every time I turn around up pops another vote for Clinton.
Most of the illegals working construction in CA are being paid cash and aren't covered by comp since they are off the books. A lot of comp rates in construction are 100% of wages so the employers are actually making a ton by hiring them. They not only don't pay comp but they don't pay any of the other payroll taxes which makes a legitimate contractor totally non competative and is put oudt of business.
So that leaves it up to the company to determine workers status. Not only does the company have to earn enough money to pay their employees and stockholders, they have to pay taxes to support the government employees and then do their job for them.
"During the deposition process Ruiz admitted -- unbeknownst to Farmers Brothers -- to using a false social security and green card to obtain employment. "
--- Why wasn't the criminal immediately arrested for identify fraud upon this confession?
Hey Dane, Where can I find these pictures?
Great teaser
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