S.C. Supreme Court: Illegals Have Workers’ Comp Rights
JUSTICES SAY ILLEGAL ALIENS HAVE EQUAL RIGHT TO WORKERS’ COMPENSATION PAYMENTS
FITSNews - December 27, 2007 - In a decision that is sure to unleash political firestorms at both the state and national level, the South Carolina Supreme Court ruled last week that illegal immigrants have the same right as any other worker to receive payments from the state’s workers’ compensation system.
In the matter of Curiel v. Environmental Management Services, the Court ruled unanimously that “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.”
The case centers around Mexican native Mario B. Curiel, who according to Court filings readily admits that he used fraudulent documents to misrepresent his legal status in order to obtain employment with Waste Management Services.
Before state lawmakers get all knee-jerky about this case, however, it’s important to note that S.C. workers’ compensation law (section 42-1-130, to be precise) currently states that compensation for claims is available to “every person engaged in an employment . . . including aliens and also including minors, whether lawfully or unlawfully employed.” Not to mention the legislature elected all five of the Supreme Court justices who endorsed this opinion, including new Justice Donald Beatty.
From House Speaker Bobby Harrell to Senate President Glenn McConnell, Republican leaders in the General Assembly have made it clear that targeting illegal immigration will be their top priority for the 2008 Legislative Session. The issue has also dominated the airwaves during the 2008 presidential primary season here in South Carolina, as GOP candidates have pretty much tripped over one another in an effort to appear “tough on immigration.”
Additionally, U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham is facing a 2008 primary challenge based almost exclusively on his stance on the issue, which some in the GOP believe is the equivalent to offering amnesty to illegal immigrants.
We’ve never been all that hot-blooded about this issue here at FITSNews, although we would tend to agree with the view expressed by Patricia Matthews of the Federal Immigration Reform and Enforcement Coalition, who told The (Myrtle Beach, S.C.) Sun News this morning that injuries to illegal immigrants should be an opportunity to penalize the employers who hire them.
Frankly, that makes more sense to us than penalizing all employers by forcing them to pay still-higher workers’ comp premiums, which have already skyrocketed in this state in recent years thanks to the efforts of our state’s personal injury lawyer caucus.
Whatever happens, be sure to keep this case in mind as the S.C. General Assembly prepares to kick off its “Immigration Reform or Bust” legislative session next month.
No doubt the reaction to the Court’s decision will be visceral, but the fact remains that S.C. lawmakers not only wrote the laws permitting illegal aliens to obtain these benefits, but they appointed the Justices who upheld them, to boot.
Comments
By The Observer on December 27th, 2007 at 12:21 pm
Agree and disagree.
I agree that the court ruled correctly in this matter. If you are engaged as an employee and you are injured you should have rights to your WC benefits like anyone else, that is why it is designed as a no fault system. Most of the time, the employer realizes and knows that the worker is illegal. This is very true in the construction, agricultural, and landscaping segments. I also agree with your thoughts that this is a chance to hone in on some employers that are condoning these types of practices to exist.
Where we disagree is that of the comment of the Supremes upholding the law because the legislature wrote it. Many times, the Supremes shoot down, reject, or accept the code as written. There job is to interpret the law on it’s merits. Although Judge bashing has become popular, I truly beleive that they are interpreting the law, and so while we may or may not agree with the outcome, let’s remember there is always a winner and looser, and that the looser almost always casts blame instead or looking for a better solution.
Happy Holidays
By Pete on December 27th, 2007 at 2:04 pm
Are you saying that Queen Jean and her Do-Boys did what they were supposed to do this time and just didn’t play politics - again? Interesting and novel approach by this particular court.
By Gal Leo on December 27th, 2007 at 2:32 pm
SECTION 42-1-130. “Employee” defined.
The term “employee” means every person engaged in an employment under any appointment, contract of hire, or apprenticeship, expressed or implied, oral or written, including aliens and also including minors, whether lawfully or unlawfully employed…..
I am not familiar with the case, and will be curious to read why this issue was even before the Supreme Court. There seems to be no ambiguity in the Code. (I guess it could be a constitutional challenge to the inclusion of illegals.)
But, bottom line, it sounds at very first glance like the Supremes did their job here, and had no other real choice. A pleasant change, it seems, from their perhaps more typical activism.
By Mens Rea on December 27th, 2007 at 3:42 pm
Sic–Do you think that the Workers Comp premiums have risen as a direct economic result of SC’s Comp laws, or that they have been raised by the insurance companies as a “penalty” for laws that are actually well-written?
By The Observer on December 27th, 2007 at 3:45 pm
Pete,
I am agreeing with you and Gal Leo. The statute is quite clear and it appears that the Supremes held up the law…as they shoould have.
By Silence Dogood on December 27th, 2007 at 4:03 pm
Not to mention I think we are also falling in accordance with other states such as FL, GA, NC and other who have held the same way on this issue. I am really going to get a good laugh at any legislator’s who call this judicial activism or a bad decision when they have upheld the letter of the law.
By SC Lawyer on December 27th, 2007 at 4:08 pm
Thanks for the update, FITS. The Supreme Court did the right thing legally and morally. I can’t wait to see how the legislature tries to change the workers’ compensation laws in a fit of irrational and ridiculous hysteria. You can bet that whatever it does, the attempt will fail to reflect social and economic reality in the name of appealing to the lowest common denominator of voter.
By Jeffrey Sewell on December 27th, 2007 at 4:54 pm
SC Lawyer,
Illegal aliens have zero rights period, they are here illegally. Why would the SCSC waste our time with this issue, when they should be taking care of issues wherein are born of legal citizenry?
~Jeffrey Sewell
By John Land on December 27th, 2007 at 5:15 pm
The question was actually a bit more complicated than others (Gal Leo, The Observer) suggest. The claim was by an illegal alien worker who used fraudulent documents to misrepresent his status to the employer. The text or meaning of the SC statute on point was never in question (but thanks for citing it, Gal Leo). The issue was one of possible preemption by the feds. Federal law prohibits the hiring of unauthorized aliens and the question was whether that law, by implication if not expressly, prohibited a state from providing workers’ compensation benefits to illegal alien workers. The state supremes said no and that was probably the right call.
By SC Lawyer III on December 27th, 2007 at 5:21 pm
Why should the employer be granted a windfall (excused from paying worker’s compensation for an injury on the job) because they either intentionally violated the law or did so negligently?
The business had in any event assumed the obligation and risk of that employee being injured on the job. When the injury occurs, what right do they have to a fortuitous or not so fortuitous windfall caused by the “discovery” after the fact that the employee was illegal.
In my opinion the Company should be fined for employing illegals (if appropriate), should pay the compensation for the injury, and the illegal should be deported.
By Harden Gervais on December 27th, 2007 at 6:49 pm
Jeff – so if an undocumented worker is seriously injured on the job, then fuck ‘em, right? That’s a brilliant philosophy.
By Earl Capps on December 27th, 2007 at 9:41 pm
SCL3 seems to have the best idea to me - apply all the laws to all the parties involved. Make them all pay sounds like the best solution to me.
Besides, the illegal will probably find his way back here soon enough, so it won’t put him out too much.
As someone who is responsible for hiring for a construction company, I know it IS possible to hire workers who are here legally. Other companies choose not to verify documents, which is a service one can use these days, or allow their secretary, who couldn’t spot a fake South Carolina ID if her life depended on it, to do it. They know they’re hiring potential problems, but they figure they can pay them 2-4 bucks less an hour and if they get hurt, they quit and go away for fear of drawing attention to themselves and thus risking deportation.
Making cheap labor more expensive by enforcing the rules, including workers’ comp, might help reduce the incentives to hire illegals.
By Earl Capps on December 27th, 2007 at 9:43 pm
BTW - does that poster in the back of the march have a picture of Che Guevara?
By Cal on December 28th, 2007 at 8:04 am
The hysteria continues. Immigrants are not here to draw workers comp, they are her to work and make money doing jobs that most Americans dont want. If I pay a wokers comp premium, I am paying it based on my payroll and the job that my emplyees perform. It’s got nothing to do with nationality.
By Darrell Jenkins on December 28th, 2007 at 9:34 am
I mean, these people are here ILLEGALLY. They bring all kinds of bad stuff in this country like guns, gangs, drugs, communicable diseases, and crappy goods that smell like cat urine. I have even heard rumors that they eat their young. I also heard they they are secretly plotting to annex the US for Mexico. This is CRAZY. Remember the Alamo.
By Gal Leo on December 28th, 2007 at 12:35 pm
Earl:
You betcha. The text under the glorious leader’s mug reads “The Workers’ struggle has no borders.”
It strikes me that the guy holding the sign is not Hispanic…and the message is clearly addresses something other than immigration…..which may give some insight as to who is involved in the sorts of organizations pictured. My guess is that if you could read the web address on the poster it would be something like killthecapitalistpigs.org.
PS: Isn’t that Will Ferrell peeking out from behind the poster in the foreground?
By Silence Dogood on December 28th, 2007 at 2:54 pm
Jeffery,
You noted “Illegal aliens have zero rights period, they are here illegally,” obviously that is not the case and merely an opinion since our Supreme Court, that of several other states (to include their legislatures) and the U.S. Supreme Court have found that not to be the case.
While I understand arguments for punishing, creating disincentives, and making barriers to illegal immigrations, to say that illegal immigrants have “zero rights period” is obviously incorrect and would a ludicrous thing to even argue for considering just how far such blanketed rule would go.
If you or a child of your or relative ever find yourself somewhere illegally, whether intentionally, or unintentionally (i.e. some one else’s yard, a cross walk when the light is red, knocking on the door of a house with a no tresspassing not too clearly posted - et cetera) is it your argument that you should have zero rights, period? You can’t be serious.
By The Observer on December 28th, 2007 at 3:10 pm
Jeff Seawell,
I agree with you that the rights to Medicare, Medicaid, and food stamps should not be offered to those here illegally because that is just a free ride. But if a man/woman is doing a job, then they should have the same rights if they are injured, regardless of nationality or whether or not they entered legally or illegally. The employer must bear some if not all the respinsibilty here..whether that is personally or through his/her WC premiums.
The theory of let’s deport all the illegals is not only a ridicolous statement, it would shut down the economy, especially here in SC. I used to work for the Employment Security Comm. in the unemployment claims division….the jobs that the illegals take are the ones the US citizens turned down because it was A) Not enough Money B)Too Long of Hours C) Outside Work D) No benefits
We have gotten lazy as society. There are plenty of jobs available…just look at our farms, hotels, construction sites, landcsape crews, etc…the jobs are there, but our society would rather not do those jobs…and they have to be done..so Jeff, what do you propose?
By annonymous on December 28th, 2007 at 3:44 pm
It is either Will Ferrell or a zombie - the bite marks on his neck, his pale demeanor, and his open mouth slack-jawed stare clearly give him away. I saw that Will Smith movie and Im heading to my basement laboratory as soon as possible.
p.s. It was probably the dirty Mexicans that brought the zombie plague here to our sleepy perfect state to begin with.
By SC Lawyer on December 28th, 2007 at 6:45 pm
@ The Observer: Well said!
By carmen on December 29th, 2007 at 7:56 am
it,s all a bunch of crap! i have a few comments,i work for myself in construction & have paid for workers comp, i was injured in 2002 & after 5yrs of winning appeals, i,m still waiting ,what gets me is if everyone agrees the first year why do they keep appealing spending gov,t money for 4more yrs (hopefully this will end soon)for what reason,but lets get the illegal working person paid,yep that,s makes a lot of sense,next comment health, in between changing my heath coverage my wife got sick spent 4 days in the hospital a nice $12,000 bill to boot but i was,nt covered at that moment,so i have to pay it ,next month she had a recurring problem another stay at the hosp. i,m covered now but pre- condition $ 8,000 more ,but if your illegal just stop at the hospital they treat you & somewhere down the line i get to pay for that too! you got to love this fucking system, i told my wife next time you tell them, (you no speak english) don,t have a s.s.# ,don,t live anywhere special, & they will treat you anyway ,shit i,m on a roll one more my grandparents came from italy,they became citizens paid taxes all legally,but the funny thing the gov,t did,nt step up & say boy we have to spend tons of money for italian in the school systems ,no they learned to speak english. i feel better for getting that off my chest,& remember people ,if your lazy gov,t is,nt fixing the problem vote them out next time around!
happy new year
By Oh, you're kidding, right? on December 30th, 2007 at 12:06 pm
To review: the Court ruled the way the law said to rule. Also, in addressing poor carmen’s comment (which I do honestly sympathize with), doesn’t it sound like the bigger issue is health care, not the illegal workers? You noted your wife’s illness –nothing with worker’s comp could have fixed that, illegals or no. “Pre-existing condition” is one of the greatest evils of the current system as well; even if you had gotten timely care with worker’s comp, you still would be stuck paying for care following the injury for years to come.
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