Injured illegal immigrant wins S.C. case
FYI~
Injured illegal immigrant wins S.C. case
By Robert Morris - The Sun News
In an opinion that illegal immigrants have equal rights to workers' compensation payments, the state Supreme Court has ruled that immigration status and federal laws "do not undermine or diminish in any way" labor protections to undocumented workers.
The ruling, released late last week, was in a workers' compensation case called "Curiel v. Environmental Management Services," involving a Mexican citizen who was working in Charleston using fraudulent documents. On a demolition job, an injury to Mario Curiel's right eye caused a detached retina and cost him most of his vision.
His employer, Environmental Management Services, argued that Curiel was not eligible for workers' compensation benefits because federal law prohibits hiring illegal immigrants.
Lower courts had ruled that the state's workers' compensation law explicitly includes illegal immigrants, "whether lawfully or unlawfully employed," a view upheld by the state Supreme Court after an October hearing in a ruling released Dec. 20.
"Disallowing benefits would mean unscrupulous employers could hire undocumented workers without the burden of insuring them, a consequence that would encourage rather than discourage the hiring of illegal workers," wrote Justice James Moore in the unanimous opinion, which also cited a 2002 N.C. case that established the same standard.
Myrtle Beach attorney David Canty, who has represented numerous local illegal workers in their claims, hailed the ruling as a definite standard on the issue. In the past, some employers' lawyers tried to argue Canty's undocumented clients were ineligible for compensation, he said.
Other reasons abound for providing workers' compensation payments to all workers, Canty said. If not, private workers' compensation insurance carriers would profit unfairly by taking employers' premiums for a class of employee ineligible to receive compensation.
Attorney Hubert Wood III of Charleston, who defended Environmental Management Services against Curiel's claim, said that the state workers' compensation law as it is written would have been difficult to overcome.
"That's going to be in the lap of the legislature," Wood said.
Wood's argument contained a more legally persuasive component, he said, based on the legal doctrine that if you hide a pre-existing handicap during hiring, then suffer an injury because of it, your employer is not responsible.
Because Curiel submitted fraudulent documents to gain employment, he was hired under false pretenses, Wood said, so Environmental Management Services should have been allowed to opt out of that contract when his illegal status came to light.
"If the employer is doing everything you're supposed to be doing and is the victim of an individual perpetrating fraud on you, in that situation the employer ought to be able to void the employment contract," Wood said.
The Supreme Court, however, ruled there was no connection between Curiel's fraud and his subsequent injury, so he was entitled to compensation.
Calling the ruling "terrible," Patricia Matthews, Horry County team leader of the Federal Immigration Reform and Enforcement Coalition, said injuries to illegal immigrants should be an additional opportunity to penalize employers who hire them. The workers should still receive the payment, she said, but employers should not be allowed to use private insurance carriers to pay their claims.
"If an illegal alien is hurt at a job, the employer should pay for it out of their own pocket," Matthews said. "I think everyone who hires them is a traitor."
The state General Assembly passed a workers' compensation reform package this year, but it did not address immigration status. Instead, it focused on measures to bring the costs of workers' compensation down.
Some sort of bill has been introduced in the legislature to bar workers' compensation for illegal immigrants nearly every year for at least a decade, Canty estimated, but that effort always dies in committee.
Contact ROBERT MORRIS at 626-0294 or rmorris@thesunnews.com.
Injured illegal immigrant wins S.C. case
By Robert Morris - The Sun News
In an opinion that illegal immigrants have equal rights to workers' compensation payments, the state Supreme Court has ruled that immigration status and federal laws "do not undermine or diminish in any way" labor protections to undocumented workers.
The ruling, released late last week, was in a workers' compensation case called "Curiel v. Environmental Management Services," involving a Mexican citizen who was working in Charleston using fraudulent documents. On a demolition job, an injury to Mario Curiel's right eye caused a detached retina and cost him most of his vision.
His employer, Environmental Management Services, argued that Curiel was not eligible for workers' compensation benefits because federal law prohibits hiring illegal immigrants.
Lower courts had ruled that the state's workers' compensation law explicitly includes illegal immigrants, "whether lawfully or unlawfully employed," a view upheld by the state Supreme Court after an October hearing in a ruling released Dec. 20.
"Disallowing benefits would mean unscrupulous employers could hire undocumented workers without the burden of insuring them, a consequence that would encourage rather than discourage the hiring of illegal workers," wrote Justice James Moore in the unanimous opinion, which also cited a 2002 N.C. case that established the same standard.
Myrtle Beach attorney David Canty, who has represented numerous local illegal workers in their claims, hailed the ruling as a definite standard on the issue. In the past, some employers' lawyers tried to argue Canty's undocumented clients were ineligible for compensation, he said.
Other reasons abound for providing workers' compensation payments to all workers, Canty said. If not, private workers' compensation insurance carriers would profit unfairly by taking employers' premiums for a class of employee ineligible to receive compensation.
Attorney Hubert Wood III of Charleston, who defended Environmental Management Services against Curiel's claim, said that the state workers' compensation law as it is written would have been difficult to overcome.
"That's going to be in the lap of the legislature," Wood said.
Wood's argument contained a more legally persuasive component, he said, based on the legal doctrine that if you hide a pre-existing handicap during hiring, then suffer an injury because of it, your employer is not responsible.
Because Curiel submitted fraudulent documents to gain employment, he was hired under false pretenses, Wood said, so Environmental Management Services should have been allowed to opt out of that contract when his illegal status came to light.
"If the employer is doing everything you're supposed to be doing and is the victim of an individual perpetrating fraud on you, in that situation the employer ought to be able to void the employment contract," Wood said.
The Supreme Court, however, ruled there was no connection between Curiel's fraud and his subsequent injury, so he was entitled to compensation.
Calling the ruling "terrible," Patricia Matthews, Horry County team leader of the Federal Immigration Reform and Enforcement Coalition, said injuries to illegal immigrants should be an additional opportunity to penalize employers who hire them. The workers should still receive the payment, she said, but employers should not be allowed to use private insurance carriers to pay their claims.
"If an illegal alien is hurt at a job, the employer should pay for it out of their own pocket," Matthews said. "I think everyone who hires them is a traitor."
The state General Assembly passed a workers' compensation reform package this year, but it did not address immigration status. Instead, it focused on measures to bring the costs of workers' compensation down.
Some sort of bill has been introduced in the legislature to bar workers' compensation for illegal immigrants nearly every year for at least a decade, Canty estimated, but that effort always dies in committee.
Contact ROBERT MORRIS at 626-0294 or rmorris@thesunnews.com.
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let him win and mail his butt back to mex when he leaves the court room. whats the problem[:(!] 0 -
who pays? taxpayers? the company, who will then be bailed out by .gov?
GET THESE LAW BREAKING ILLEGALS OUT OF OUR DAMN COUNTRY!!!!
Why is this even a consideration! WTH is wrong with this place! we have laws! they broke the laws just by entering WHY DO THE PEOPLE NOT DEMAND THE LAWS BE ENFORCED!!!!!! If I break a FN law I WILL PAY, same as you, but let an illegal immigrant come in and roll out the red carpet for our newest democrat voter. Let the seventh plague be released in D.C.
I pray God strikes the very soul of these "men" who have so misrepresented our lost country.
Why do we treat our own citizens as if they are illegal!? OUR GOVERNMENT MUST BE STOPPED! LAWS MUST BE ENFORCED! BUSH CHENEY should be impeached and tried for treason, EVERY SINGLE PUKE that has hired an illegal immigrant should be tried for treason! Every ICE agent should be tried for treason! Every mayor who has stated that their city is a safe haven for illegals should be SHOT! this includes EX mayor teresa ann isaac from lex, KY... Every homebuilder who got rich off the tragedy that is occurring should be liquidated and all management and foreman's should be tried for treason! this includes BALL HOMES in lex, KY 80% of all labor on a BALL HOME is performed by illegals. This would also include Nicholas Phillips, Marion Jones, ALL THE DRYWALL CONTRACTORS AND CEMENT CONTRACTORS. America has been sold out by damn near everyone in a position to sell her out.
Instead of giving an American 15 an hour to do good honest work, these builders will hire two illegals for 7.50 an hour, mind you these illegals dont read blueprints that well, and they are building YOUR HOUSE!!!! LMMFAO!!!! I remember a few years back in Masterson Station here in Lexington, KY we had a bad wind storm and a few of the houses got blown over, well they tried to say that a tornado touched down, that is BS!!! I plumbed a bunch of the houses in there built by BALL HOMES they were some of the flimsiest houses I have ever seen!! I seen roof trusses held down with plastic straps, I seen houses out of square by over 18" some of the stuff I seen made me realize this "American dream" they are selling is a joke!!!! This dumb ass people were buying these homes for 250,000 dollars and when no more than 20,000 was being spent on materials, and maybe 15,000 on labor.
I have seen homes in Masterson Station, and Willow Bend, and pretty much any BALL HOME subdivision where they used pink styrofoam EXTERIOR WALLS!! covered only by siding and drywall! in other words if I wanted to break in your house I could just run through the wall.
People have no idea the wool has been pulled over there eyes, so naturally they cant see what is being done behind their back.0 -
That is great news!!!
Now maybe S.C. Workers Comp will take a good look at Environmental Management Services books and have them pay back comp on all of the illegals that company has working for it. Then maybe the rest of the U.S. companies that hire illegals will be checked into closely also.0 -
This situation has several facets. On one hand, it was wrong of the company to hire illegal aliens (not "undocumented workers") to begin with...so in a way it's a backdoor approach to slamming them for having broken that law.
The problem though is that even if a 'bad' employer gets their just dues, allowing illegal aliens to SUE American citizens/companies sets a BAD, BAD, BAD precedent. It's basically akin to trespassers being able to sue the land owner for injuries sustained while trespassing- which unfortunately has occurred many times in the past in this nation.
THAT kind of stuff is the reason lawyers as a group are despicable.0
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