Court Says Injured Illegal Alien Entitled to Workers’ Compensation

David Gutierrez was left physically unable to work after his foot was run over by a forklift on the job at Omaha’s Quality Pork International packing house in August 2008.

Trouble is, he was not able, legally, to hold a job at the meat plant. Gutierrez was the false name assumed by illegal immigrant Ricardo Moyera when he used purchased documents to land the job in March 2007.

In a case that went to the Nebraska Supreme Court, Moyera’s employers argued that they should not have to pay an estimated $2 million over the rest of the worker’s life to cover his lost wages and medical costs.

On Friday, the Nebraska Supreme Court ruled that Moyera, despite being an illegal immigrant from Mexico, is entitled to workers’ compensation payments through his employer for his on-the-job injury.

It was the first time the high court has held that illegal immigrants are protected by state workers’ compensation laws. The decision adopted and expanded a similar ruling made by the midlevel Nebraska Court of Appeals in 2009.

Read more at Omaha.com

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