Posted on 04/10/2009 7:54:07 PM PDT by Inappropriate Laughter
Photo by Matthew Ratajczak
WEST PALM BEACH — Victor Leon is alone in the hospital most days.
The 26-year-old was paralyzed nearly three years ago when he fell from the roof of a three-story building in Palm City while working for Jupiter-based Altec Roofing. Since then, Leon has been mired in a legal battle to get workers' compensation benefits or legal damages from Altec.
Leon is an illegal immigrant. His status puts him at the crux of a legal debate over what rights, if any, illegal workers have after being injured on a job for which the American government says they never should have been hired.
"It's sort of a legal limbo," said Chad Hastings, Leon's attorney. "He's in a place where basically the American government is saying, 'Go die somewhere.' "
Unable to work since the accident because of his paralysis, Leon is homeless and poverty worsened his medical problems. Reused catheters caused infections and bedsores burrowed deeper into his body until they threatened to overtake his bones. He's spent most of 2009 in St. Mary's Medical Center and is about to undergo his third surgery.
His brother, Ivan — also in the U.S. illegally — visits on weekends off work. Leon's grandmother, the only family member with a passport, has visited from Monterrey, Mexico. Leon doesn't return to Monterrey because he isn't sure his family can provide the medical care he needs.
Likely the hospital will have to write it off as charity care.
Returning to Mexico also might destroy Leon's chance at winning his legal case, according to Hastings. Once in Monterrey, Leon might not be able to return for depositions or hearings.
A civil court judge ruled Altec did not owe Leon anything for negligence, citing a precedent case that gives an employer legal immunity when they provide workers' compensation. But Altec denied Leon workers' compensation because of his illegal status.
"This guy paid taxes. He paid higher taxes than me," Hastings said. "But now, no one wants to help him."
Companies shouldn't be hiring illegal immigrants in the first place, said former state Rep. Gayle Harrell, R-Port St. Lucie. But even if the employer knew the worker was illegal, Harrell said that doesn't entitle an injured worker — already breaking the law — to benefits.
"I don't think we should give any rights to illegals to start with," said Harrell, who made stopping illegal immigration her top issue when she campaigned for U.S. House District 16. "You've got all these contractors out of work. We should be hiring legal workers, not illegal ones. These contractors could avoid all these sticky lawsuits."
Leon came to the United States seven years ago, following his older brother Ivan and in search of a better life. He worked odd jobs, until Ivan, who was a supervisor with Altec, helped him land a roofing job.
Leon worked first under a fake Social Security number, then procured a real number under a fake name — Jesse James Craig. Hastings and Leon allege Altec knew about — and helped get around — his, Ivan's and other workers' illegal status, pointing to W-2 forms that show Ivan worked for Altec under three different names.
Altec officials did not return calls for comment.
When he wasn't working, Leon enjoyed soccer and dancing. People in Indiantown, where he lived and still stays when he's not in the hospital, remember a vibrant, social 24-year-old before the accident.
One morning, Leon and a coworker were throwing the metal framework of a garbage chute system off the roof of a three-story Circle Bay condominium in Palm City when a split-second miscommunication changed Leon's life.
"I was ready to count, like 'one, two, three,' and then we throw it down," Leon said. "But he just threw it. When he threw it down, I didn't even know it, and I just saw that there was nothing under my feet."
Leon and the six-foot metal girder went sailing over the roof's edge. Leon had the presence of mind to push the metal away, but then the next thing he knew he was in the hospital being told he'd never walk again.
A urine test taken at the hospital revealed traces of cocaine and marijuana in Leon's system. In addition to Leon's legal status, Altec is using this test to fight his claims to benefits.
But a toxicologist hired by Hastings has testified a urinalysis does not prove Leon was impaired at the time of the accident. Hospital charts do not show that Leon appeared intoxicated. Leon admits to taking "about four puffs" from a marijuana cigarette the night before the accident, however, he claims to have been sober that morning.
"I was always careful what time I went to sleep when I was working," Leon said. "I remember that morning. I was alright."
Since the accident, Leon has not been alright. No work means no money, and for awhile, his brother Ivan also was out of work. Leon has had to rely on whatever help people in Indiantown have offered.
"He's just wheeling in the streets all day with that sun," said Tonya Molina, a 50-year-old mother of four who brought Leon two meals a day. "He goes and sits under a tree. He ain't got no TV, ain't got no bed. He's constantly in pain 'cause he's got no way to get medication."
Hastings supplied a new wheelchair and brought him to St. Mary's for care when the bedsores worsened. Before that, Holy Cross Catholic Church in Indiantown helped with medication while Leon stayed in an empty house with the owner's permission but without water or electricity.
"He wasn't the only one working illegally," said Yolanda Whitehead, 30, who helped Leon make calls to social service agencies. "Somebody needs to give him somewhere to stay and feed him ... and some treatment because he needs help."
His makeshift home has been rented. Leon isn't sure where he'll go when St. Mary's discharges him.
"Illegal people can't have no rights, man, and I don't know why," Leon said. "I mean, we're just humans."
About 30 years ago an illegal died from injuries working on a ranch. The outcome was the judge ruled just as you said- the owner had to pay the widow the same benefits worker's comp would have paid if he had been a legal worker- and pay all medical expenses out of his pocket. That was one rancher that never ever hired an illegal again.
If it worked this way everywhere then I would bet it would be a lot harder for illegals to find work here.
Those who think that the companies that hire illegals shouldn’t be punished don’t really want to stop illegal imigration. They just want to keep dangling the lure out there and be absolved of all blame.
Obviously some illegals will always slip through the cracks but there are systems in place to check for citizenship. If someone does that and accidently hires an illegal then that can be taken into account.
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