Workers Comp and Illegal Immigrant Workers

The employer appealed from an order of the judge of compensation claims in Florida that awarded permanent total disability (PTD) benefits to a claimant who was an illegal immigrant. The District Court of Appeals of Florida , First District heard the appeal. This case is HDV Construction Systems, Inc. v. Aragon, 2011 WL 2535337 (Fla.App. 1 Dist.).

 

Aragon , while working for HDV Construction as a framer, fell from a height of thirty feet and suffered multiple complex fractures to his left foot and forearm. After receiving extensive medical treatment, including the implantation of a spinal cord stimulator, Aragon was determined to have permanent injuries. As a result of these injuries, Aragon has been permanently restricted to sedentary work only, a strength level that prohibits him from performing any of his pre-injury occupations. The claimant does not have proper documentation that would allow him to work legally in the United States , has no driver's license, a limited education, an inability to speak, read, or write in English, and no transferable skills that would assist him in obtaining lighter employment.

 

Aragon filed a claim for PTD benefits. The judge of compensation claims found that Aragon 's physical injuries, when combined with his vocational impediments and his illegal status, rendered him permanently and totally disabled and unable to engage in even sedentary employment. Aragon was awarded PTD benefits. The employer appealed and argued that Aragon 's illegal status should defeat his entitlement to permanent total disability benefits.

 

The appeals court said that there is no dispute that the Florida legislature has expressed an unyielding textual intent that aliens, including those who are illegal and unlawfully employed, be covered and compensated under the state workers comp law. The court found that, although the employment of illegal aliens is prohibited by law, the violation of the law is an unfortunate reality, and the cost of injuries sustained by unlawful workers should be borne by the industry giving rise to the risk. Moreover, the principle that an entity that knowingly employs unlawful labor should not be able to shirk the cost of the injuries it creates, and in turn, shift the cost of the injuries onto the taxpaying public is strongly upheld. The court noted that, in this instance, the employer could have avoided the entirety of the loss by refraining from knowingly hiring illegal labor. The employer did not do so, and the court refused to allow the employer to abandon its responsibilities.

 

As for PTD determination, the court said that, in order to obtain PTD benefits under Florida law, a claimant must demonstrate that he is not able to engage in at least sedentary employment within a fifty-mile radius of his residence due to his physical limitations. In this case, the evidence established that Aragon was physically disabled from performing any of the strenuous jobs he held before his injury, and was likewise physically (and educationally) precluded from most occupations or trades, making his employment opportunities severely limited. Therefore, the court affirmed the award of PTD benefits to Aragon .

 

The award of PTD benefits was affirmed by the court.

 

Editor's Note: The court in its decision affirming the award of PTD benefits emphasized the point that the purpose of workers comp is to place on the industry, rather than the general taxpaying public, the expense incident to the hazards created by industry. Because the employer stands to benefit and profit from its employment of labor, and is in the best position to avoid the risk of loss, it would be improper to foist on society the costs of an injured worker. The fact that the court found that the state legislature clearly allowed and fully intended that illegal immigrants be covered under the state workers comp law, only strengthened its opinion to affirm PTD benefits for the claimant.

 

Moreover, in this case, the employer knowingly hired an illegal alien and continued his employment, and equity demanded that the employer bear the burden of workers compensation for that alien after he was injured on the job.