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Undocumented workers can get workers' compensation, L.A. court rules
SignonSanDiego.com ^ | October 19, 2005 | ASSOCIATED PRESS

Posted on 10/21/2005 3:50:45 AM PDT by pitinkie

Undocumented workers who are hurt on the job are entitled to workers' compensation benefits, a state appeals court ruled.

The 2nd District Court of Appeal made the finding in a case involving Torrance-based coffee roaster Farmer Bros. Co., which had tried to deny workers' comp benefits to an employee who was in the country illegally.

The company argued that federal immigration laws superseded the state's workers' compensation system, which provides medical care and disability benefits to injured employees.

The court disagreed, upholding an earlier decision against Farmer Bros. by the state Workers' Compensation Appeals Board.

"California law has expressly declared immigration status irrelevant to the issue of liability to pay compensation to an injured worker," the three-judge panel said in a unanimous ruling issued late Monday.

A Farmer Bros. spokesman did not immediately return a message left after hours at the company's corporate headquarters.

Experts said the ruling marked the first time a California appeals court confirmed that illegal immigrants have a right to workers' comp benefits.

The plaintiff in the case, Rafael Ruiz, 35, claimed he injured his shoulders, back, neck and hands by repeatedly lifting heavy sacks of coffee beans, according to his attorney's case file.

San Leandro attorney Kari Krogseng, who filed a brief on behalf of the California Applicants' Attorneys Association, which represents injured workers, said the decision affirms "both the common sense application of California law and what every other court in the country has routinely found: that federal immigration law does not pre-empt state workers' compensation laws."

Advocates for tougher immigration control criticized the ruling.

"We can't reward people for breaking the law," said Andy Ramirez, a spokesman for Friends of the Border Patrol, a Covina-based group that sends members to patrol the U.S. border with Mexico.

"Employers of illegal aliens should be charged and prosecuted to the full extent of the law."

The state Department of Finance estimated that 2.6 million illegal immigrants live in California.


TOPICS: Government; News/Current Events; US: California
KEYWORDS: aliens; immigrantlist; ruling; workerscomp
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1 posted on 10/21/2005 3:50:47 AM PDT by pitinkie
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To: pitinkie
""California law has expressly declared immigration status irrelevant to the issue of liability to pay compensation to an injured worker," the three-judge panel said in a unanimous ruling issued late Monday.

Pays to live in a socialist state.

2 posted on 10/21/2005 3:57:12 AM PDT by stopem
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To: stopem

I know.


3 posted on 10/21/2005 3:58:39 AM PDT by pitinkie (revenge will be sweet)
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To: stopem

This should be a wake-up call to US employers who choose to hire illegals. What ever happened to the I-9 requirement?


4 posted on 10/21/2005 4:00:29 AM PDT by ShutUpandSing
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To: pitinkie

I am agaisnt hiring illegal workers to start with . However you cannot allow a company to hire illegals and then claim they dont have to pay compensation because they are illegal.

IMO this company sucks. They hire illegals pay them low wages and then try to screw them if they are injured. Low life bastards should be prosecuted for hiring illegals to start with.


5 posted on 10/21/2005 4:02:44 AM PDT by sgtbono2002
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To: sgtbono2002

I agree that companies that hire should be penalized.


6 posted on 10/21/2005 4:04:59 AM PDT by pitinkie (revenge will be sweet)
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To: sgtbono2002
"IMO this company sucks. They hire illegals pay them low wages and then try to screw them if they are injured. Low life bastards should be prosecuted for hiring illegals to start with."

Hey, it keeps the price of lettuce down
7 posted on 10/21/2005 4:08:27 AM PDT by tfecw (It's for the children)
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To: pitinkie

Fine by me. However, upon reciept of the application, deport them post hast and fine the daylights out of the company.


8 posted on 10/21/2005 4:25:27 AM PDT by mtbopfuyn (Legality does not dictate morality... Lavin)
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To: pitinkie
Great. So the taxpayer and other legitimately operating businesses will pick up the tab for workers, paid in cash under the table, and for whom no Workers Comp/Employment Taxes have been paid by the employer of Illegals.

Just one more incentive for an employer to scam the system and hire Illegals.

9 posted on 10/21/2005 4:25:43 AM PDT by TCats
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To: pitinkie

This country is finished. It didn't matter which party held power.


10 posted on 10/21/2005 4:47:51 AM PDT by tomahawk
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To: pitinkie

1) Illegals are just that, illegal. Ship them back to mexico for treatment.
2) Jail any employer that knowingly hires illegals (Economic terrorists). Charge the company for the deportation, treatment of said illegal and run a thorough OSHA inspection. OH, and make sure the OSHA inspector is the one going through a nasty divorce and got cut off in traffic on the way to work, spilling hot coffee all over his lap.


11 posted on 10/21/2005 4:52:28 AM PDT by A-10 (Warthog.)
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To: sgtbono2002

Yep, this company and others like it want to have it both ways. Screw them.


12 posted on 10/21/2005 4:56:05 AM PDT by Trust but Verify (( ))
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To: tomahawk

I fear you are correct.


13 posted on 10/21/2005 4:56:39 AM PDT by Mayflower Sister
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To: pitinkie
Undocumented workers who are hurt on the job are entitled to workers' compensation benefits, a state appeals court ruled.

Utter insanity.

14 posted on 10/21/2005 4:57:52 AM PDT by Lazamataz (Islam is merely Nazism without the snappy fashion sense.)
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To: sgtbono2002

We should keep the focus on HEAVY penalties for hiring illegals. Then we don't need to make insane rulings like these.


15 posted on 10/21/2005 4:59:11 AM PDT by Lazamataz (Islam is merely Nazism without the snappy fashion sense.)
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To: pitinkie
Well, this ruling should get us an extra 500,000 or so extra illegals annually.

I have a suggestion regarding the judges. However, due to FR rules, it's best I not post such material.

16 posted on 10/21/2005 4:59:47 AM PDT by neutrino (Globalization “is the economic treason that dare not speak its name.” (173))
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To: A-10
1) Illegals are just that, illegal. Ship them back to mexico for treatment.
2) Jail any employer that knowingly hires illegals (Economic terrorists). Charge the company for the deportation, treatment of said illegal and run a thorough OSHA inspection. OH, and make sure the OSHA inspector is the one going through a nasty divorce and got cut off in traffic on the way to work, spilling hot coffee all over his lap.

3) If, for any reason, the OSHA inspector failed to spill coffee on his lap, have someone dent his car and then send him out to the parking lot to observe. Cause him to trip on the rug on the way back in.

17 posted on 10/21/2005 5:01:23 AM PDT by Lazamataz (Islam is merely Nazism without the snappy fashion sense.)
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To: Mayflower Sister

P.S. I think even God is fed up (i.e., Francis, Jean, Ivan, Katrina, Rita, Wilma......)

When I heard yesterday that the gay/lesbian crew has reading books in Kindergarten promoting their God-awful, disgusting life style, I concluded that it's all over.


18 posted on 10/21/2005 5:01:34 AM PDT by Mayflower Sister
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To: sgtbono2002
Anyone who knowingly hires an illegal alien should be subject to criminal prosecution.

An illegal alien should not be eligible for worker's compensation, social security, or any other benefits. An illegal alien is a criminal. All illegal aliens should be notified of this. Anyone applying for a job should be notified that if he/she is an illegal alien, he/she is not eligible for the benefits due the law abiding.

19 posted on 10/21/2005 5:04:44 AM PDT by Savage Beast (The internet is the newspaper of record.)
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To: pitinkie

Now that the whole world knows that Rafael Rios is an illegal alien, does anyone think there is even the remotest possibility that he now will be deported?


20 posted on 10/21/2005 5:04:58 AM PDT by P-Marlowe
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