Alabama Judge Rules Illegal Immigrant Due Workers Comp for Life

AP ^

[Mount Athos]

Omar Santos-Cruz came to the United States illegally from Mexico and went to work building houses in one of Alabama's fanciest neighborhoods before he was seriously injured in March of last year at age 17. A court has now ruled that Santos-Cruz is due workers compensation benefits and medical care for life despite being in the country illegally. The case is a possible legal precedent and a sign of things to come for builders who have come to rely on immigrant laborers in a booming housing market.

But the Home Builders Association of Alabama cited the immigration status of Santos-Cruz when it intervened in the case and asked the judge to deny benefits for the teen, who was partially paralyzed while working on a home in the upscale Greystone development in suburban Birmingham.

In a decision filed October 18th, the judge ruled that Henry Lambert Construction must pay Santos-Cruz workers compensation benefits of $240 a week for the rest of his life and also must cover all his medical bills.

[streetpreacher]

Not hard at all.

The pimp is much more to be despised than the hooker.

[truemiester]

The real losers are the people of alabama who will foot the bill, ultimatly. And for the rest of the US now that this case has become presidence for other suits. Every illegal will hire a lawyer (schyster) and a physician (quack) for a life long payday. If you are diabled in Mexico, you have to buy your own cane!

[HuntsvilleTxVeteran]

I believe we should give amnesty to these poor CRIMINAL INVADERS.
This should be a 2 week amnesty to get the heck out of our Country.
The ones who ignore this amnesty should be buried in a tent city jail and fined $10,000 or buried elsewhere.
All aiders and abettors of these CRIMINAL INVADERS should get 1 year in a tent city jail and a $10,000 fine for each CRIMINAL aided.
Those in government should be the first ones charged.

[moehoward]

I like the way you say it better.

"...that phrase is simply regurgitation of the daily propaganda."

"I know industrious and lazy illegals, legals, and Americans.

I think we all do, but two of them have earned the right to be here.

[phil_will1]

"California is full of them. They even advertise their spanish commercials in English stations."

So is Georgia. There was an article in this morning's Atlanta Journal Constitution about Gwinnett county, one of the most populous in the greater Atlanta metro area, and the impact that illegals have had on home values. It seems that the home building industry has become heavily dependent on them. This begs the question: what happens if we have a slowdown in homebuilding and these illegals have a hard time finding replacement work? That is a sobering thought.

[phil_will1]

"As strongly opposed to illegal immigration as I am, I do not see why someone who is doing a job should not get the protection of workers comp for that job.

It seems that there are many people in this country (I don't mean anybody here) who truly wish to have some sort of underclass of workers, a serf class, a helot class. What do his employers think should happen to this guy now? He should just drop dead because he got hurt on their job? This attitude disgusts me."

I agree totally with your sentiment, but I also like the post above that said that employers have been found liable, not the insurance funds, in some cases. To me, it is fairly simple. If you pay the premiums, you are entitled to the coverage, legal or illegal. If your employer elects not to collect and remit the premiums, then he assumes the liability himself. I agree that it isn't fair to throw human lives away when someone is injured on the job.

[ncgal]

Or to bring illegal relatives here.

[ncgal]

I love it when the "job" won't pass final inspection. The employer has to tear out and hire somebody who actually knows what they're doing. These are US workers of course.

[planekT]

...Makes one wonder how good the workmanship is in these McMansions....

Well, wonder no more. The last house I was in I had to jack a door out at the bottom as far as it would go because the whole wall was that out of level. There's just no excuse for that.

Meanwhile there was a crew there trying to cover up one of the worst tape and float jobs I've ever seen, and this was after it was already painted.

From the framing end I've seen stuff that wasn't nailed in, or things like blocks under windows sticking out to the point that I knew the sheetrockers would just knock them loose anyway once they got there.

On two other houses the plumbers stuff ended up springing a leak, running all night, and being upstairs, ruining the cielings below. There was no choice but to rip out all the sheetrock and replace it.

Other things I've seen.

Slabs with gulleys in them.

Plywood on roofs with more nails missing the rafters then hitting them, judging by all the nails on either side of the rafters which are all bowed to begin (they don't take the time to straighten them and nail a 2*4 underneath).

In short, getting one of these McMansions presentable requires "fixes" on almost every level. I don't think anyone is saving any money here.

And if you bring any tools with you you better watch them like a hawk, because they will walk off if you don't.

[phil_will1]

"If he did not, and the employer knowlingly hired an illegal, the employer should be required to pay the employer share of his workman's compensation PLUS the state match. (I believe the employer pays part of the Worker's Comp and part comes from State funding - the taxpayers shouldn't have to pay this employer's mistake - just the employer.) Maybe more of these exploiters will be less willing to hire these invaders."

I have a different concept of how workmen's comp works. I seem to recall that there is a payroll tax and I believe there is an employee component and an employer component. The benefits, on the other hand, are paid out of the fund that is created by these payroll tax revenues coming in.

At issue is what happens when an employee who has not had these taxes paid on his/her behalf gets injured. It isn't fair to pay for his benefits out of a fund that he and his employer never contributed to having him covered in. It is also not fair to simply allow his employer to pay back premiums. That would be like not carrying health insurance, then paying back premiums after you have a heart attack and expecting the insurance company to cover it.

At the risk of redundancy, I think it is emininently fair to assess the cost of benefits to the employer who knowingly hired an illegal and did not pay worker's comp premiums. Of course, you raise a good point in distinguishing between employers who knowingly hire illegals and those who are misled by forged documents. The second group is definitely more problematic.

[DustyMoment]

who was partially paralyzed while working on a home

Well, picking nits, partially paralyzed doesn't mean he can no longer work; he was a teen who probably shouldn't have been on the job site in the first place; and he's an illegal.

Partial paralysis could mean that he has lost full use of his hand or his foot. I suppose that does entitle him to something - IMO, job training and a free ticket home.

As for the employer, he deserves to pay whatever it costs because "he was a teen who probably shouldn't have been on the job site in the first place; and he's an illegal."

[blackie]

Protect our borders and coastlines from all foreign invaders!

Support our Minutemen Patriots!

Be Ever Vigilant ~ Bump!

[moehoward]

Good friends of ours just experienced this in a new home. I believe the company was Capstone, here in western Wa.

I had been invited to walk-through the home in it's final stages. At that time things appeared fine. However, I was shocked at the number of Illegals working on these homes. At final inspection so many problems were found, it took months to repair.

The final kicker was, several of the Illegals were living in these homes, without running water. You can imagine what condition the bathrooms were in.

[ncgal]

I've got a friend who's a contractor & he has a 5 man crew that does nothing but straighten out the mess after these houses are put up and the builder and their illegal help disappear. He's racking in the bucks!

[ridesthemiles]

Maybe I missed something, but the article didn't say he was permamnently disabled, it said he was seriously injured. Since when does a "serious injury" qualify one for worker's compensation for life; ESPECIALLY a 17 year-old illegal?""
Seems to me that the price of a hit man would be FAR cheaper than the $240 a week for life.

This 17 y/o doesn't have a long life ahead of him, I bet.

[Sonny M]

The pimp is much more to be despised than the hooker.

Problem is I hate them both, a hooker will always find a new pimp just as a pimp can always find a new hooker.

I may be a bit bitter because one of my close friends lost his job (since found a new one) because his boss wanted him to take a huge paycut so he could slash his prices to compete with other landscapers.

When my friend refused, his boss fired him and replaced him with an illegal, and then got everyone else on the crew to take paycuts.

My friend refuses to tell me who his former boss is because he knows I'll report him and he has a stupid sense of loyalty to the piece of garbage.

[Quilla]

Employees in Alabama do not contribute a dime to workman's comp premiums - the employer pays it all. The premiums are based on the risks involved with work (high for roofers, low for sod layers) and the experience rating earned by the employer's record of claims.

The Home Builders Self Insurers Fund was created to pool like businesses' premiums and promote stringent safety practices to ultimately reduce these premiums. If a business in the fund does not have a claim for a calender year, that business can expect a dividend (refund of premiums paid) a couple of years later after all claims in the fund have been satisfied for that year. The dividend is substantial enough to be an incentive for an employer to be ultra-safe. (I receive such a dividend every year often times as much as 60% of annual premium paid.)

It is my understanding that an employer in Alabama is not required to carry workman's comp if they have less than five employees. A builder who hires sub-contractors should ask for a copy of the comp coverage, deduct the comp premium from their checks, or get the waiver of comp in the case of less than five employees. A builder also knows that regardless of comp coverage or not, he will ultimately be held responsible. He's simply the one with the biggest pockets.

I am required to have on file an I-9 form for every new hire, swearing that I have seen the necessary documents verifying that person's eligibility for U.S. employment. How employers are getting away without such a form is something I plan to pursue.