"It's a little hard to feel much sympathy for Farmer Bros. Co."
I agree. Here the Court was saying that Farmers was trying to win by hiring illegal workers and win again should that worker be injured. I don't support illegal immigration at all but this seemed to be pretty bad faith on the part of Farmers Brothers too. Actually, I think the decision could redound against illegals in the long run. The illegals win this and the attraction of hiring illegals (no need to comply with worker protection rules) diminishes. I realize that it is a stupid decision but maybe it is the way we need to go: make hiring illegals as expensive as hiring legals.
Forgot to add that California worker compensation laws are insane. Here are some real cases that have come down within the past couple of years:
Homeowner hires his neighbor who is a roofing contractor to replace his roof. The neighbor's employee heads back to the neighbor's home with the equipment at the end of the day and gets hit by a car. Turns out the neighbor wasn't licensed with the state so the neighbor's employee becomes the homeowner's employee and the homeowner is liable for the employee's worker's comp.
Homeowner hires a company to trim his palm trees. Trimmer falls out of the tree. Homeowner is liable for worker's comp because the triming company has no state license and because the trees exceeded 15' or 20' (can't recall how much now).
Bottom line warning: Make sure in California all your contractors have up-to-date state licenses or you become an employer under California law. Guess the unions got in on that requirement.
So it doesn't surprise me that illegals are benefitted under this boondoggle.
"It's a little hard to feel much sympathy for Farmer Bros. Co."
It's a little hard to feel too sorry for the people of California.
Folks out there better grab the bull by the horns (by whatever means) or they will not have a State worth living in.