New York City, New York (NewYorkInjuryNews.com) — So-called immigration “reform”—the term means many things to many different politicians, lawyers and, most importantly, immigrants— remains the hottest topic in domestic affairs.
We look ahead to what the new President will do with respect to immigration when he takes office in 2009: Will we see passage of long-awaited amnesty measures for the millions of undocumented workers in the U.S.? The creation of a guest worker program? Or will we see greater restrictions altogether?
While these issues play themselves out, it is important to remember that, right here at home, there are deeply established and well-recognized protections for all workers, and not just those who are native born, naturalized or documented. Workers compensation benefits and recovery through lawsuits, brought under the highly protective New York State Labor Law, provide substantial financial recovery to injured workers and their families. It may surprise some, including employers, to learn that these protections are available without respect to immigration status or national origin.
Sullivan Papain Block McGrath & Cannavo P.C. will continue to bring the benefit of these laws to its injured clients.
Please consider these quotations, and read on.
“The Labor Law, therefore, applies to all workers in qualifying employment situations-regardless of immigration status-and nothing in the relevant statutes or our decisions negates the universal applicability of this principle.” FN1
“In the related context of workers’ compensation statutes, also enacted for the benefit of employees, courts have found such statutes applicable to all persons within the state’s borders, even those who are not entitled to be here.” FN2
“New York law not only holds site owners and general contractors absolutely liable for personal injuries resulting from a violation of Labor Law § 240(1); it specifically extends the protections of that law to injured undocumented workers.” FN 3.
Is this only the rhetoric of a community activist? Are these the urgings of progressive minded Congressmen fighting to improve the lot of the hardworking immigrants contributing to the social stability and economic wellbeing of their districts?
Not at all.
Given the calls for restrictions on immigration one often hears from representatives of local, state and federal governments, it is surprising to discover n that, in fact, these views were recently expressed by two of the most important courts in New York State: the New York Court of Appeals, the highest court in the State; and the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. Only the United States Supreme Court is a higher authority than this Court.
Balbuena v. IDR Realty LLC, issued by the Court of Appeals, and the Second Circuit’s ruling in Madeira v. Affordable Housing Foundation, Inc., were two of the most significant decisions of recent years. These legal opinions recognize important considerations of policy. Even though federal law may prohibit employers from hiring undocumented workers, undocumented workers must be protected if they are hired and injured on the job. Given that undocumented workers are a huge component of New York’s labor force, to deny these employees their rights to compensation if they become injured would essentially create a slave class.
Imagine if an employer were able to hire you, and avoid taking any measure whatsoever to protect you and your undocumented colleagues from dangerous situations at work. The cost savings to your employer would be astronomical, and the threat to your health and life would be enormous. To deny the undocumented worker the right of recovery would encourage exactly this. As the Court of Appeals noted:
limiting a lost wages claim by an injured undocumented alien would lessen an employer’s incentive to comply with the Labor Law and supply all of its workers the safe workplace that the Legislature demands. FN4
Instead, the courts choose to recognize that New York and other states “enjoy broad authority under their police powers to regulate ··· employment relationship[s] to protect workers within the State…This includes the power to enact laws affecting occupational health and safety.” FN5 As the 2nd Circuit reaffirmed, “New York’s Workers’ Compensation Law requires employers to “pay or provide compensation [to employees] for their disability or death from injury arising out of and in the course of the employment without regard to fault as a cause of the injury…this “statute was designed to provide a swift and sure source of benefits to the injured employee.” FN6
We caution, however, that neither decision makes the pursuit of financial recovery for an injured and undocumented worker an easy road. In the trial courts, attorneys representing companies sued under the Labor Law will, no doubt, continue to argue that the undocumented are not entitled to any recovery because of the federal government’s ban on their employment. It is the job of the attorney representing the injured, equipped with these new decisions and arguments based upon public policy, to convince the courts that the health and security of workers is a consideration paramount to that of immigration status.
America sometimes forgets that this is a nation with a foundation built largely upon immigrant labor. At the same time, the Balbuena and Madeira decisions remind us that job safety and compensation for all injured workers are values embedded in the bedrock of our legal system.
It is frightening to think about being hurt at work. If you have the misfortune of being injured on the job, after getting the medical care you need, protect yourself and your family by consulting with a reputable attorney at once.
Footnotes
1, 2 and 4 Balbuena v. IDR Realty LLC, 812 N.Y.S.2d 416,427 (Ct. App., 2006) 3, 5 and 6 Madeira v. Affordable Housing Foundation, Inc., 469 F.3d 219, 229 (2nd Cir., 2006)This information brought to you by Nicholas Papain, New York Personal Injury, Trial Law Attorney, Sullivan Papain Block McGrath & Cannavo P.C.
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