A Florida Court has ruled that illegal aliens are entitled to workers' compensation benefits. This follows the acceptance of a majority of States to offer workers' compensation status to workers regardless of their immigration status and is in conformity with public policy and legislative intent.
The Court reasoned that the employer knew or should have known of the illegal status of the employee at the time of hiring then the employer is subsequently responsible to pay workers' compensation benefits following a work-related injury.
The Court stated in its opinion:
"Although there is no shortage of debate that can be had on the issue of illegal labor and its effect on our state, 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 Florida Workers’ Compensation Law. See § 440.02(15)(a), Fla. Stat. (2007) (defining “employee” to include any person who receives remuneration from an employer, including aliens, whether “lawfully or unlawfully employed”); see also Safeharbor Employer Servs., Inc. v. Velazquez, 860 So. 2d 984 (Fla. 1st DCA 2003) (“Therefore, we conclude that the Florida legislature's right to enact workers' compensation benefits for illegal aliens is not preempted by federal action.”). Indeed, the purpose of workers’ compensation law is to place on industry, rather than the general taxpaying public, the expense incident to the hazards created by industry. Gore v. Lee County Sch. Bd., 43 So. 3d 846, 849 (Fla. 1st DCA 2010) (explaining workers’ compensation legislation is designed to relieve society in general of expenses created by industry). Moreover, because the employer stands to benefit and profit from its employment of labor, and further is in the best position to avoid the risk of loss, the courts have uniformly recognized the impropriety of foisting on society the costs of a “broken body” and “diminished income” created by industry. Mobile Elevator Co. v. White, 39 So. 2d 799, 800 (Fla.1949).
"Accordingly, the Florida Legislature has long recognized that although the employment of illegal aliens is prohibited by federal and state law, violation of these laws is an unfortunate reality, and the cost of injuries sustained by unlawful workers, being no less real than those suffered by lawful workers, should be borne by the industry giving rise to the risk (and best positioned to avoid the loss), not the general taxpaying public. In the instance of employers that employ illegal workers, this court has held that such an employer is precluded from asserting the status of an illegal alien as a defensive matter so as to avoid liability for disability benefits otherwise due only when the employer “knew or should have known of the true status of the employee.” Candelo, 478 So. 2d at 1170 (“This holding prevents unauthorized aliens from suffering at the hands of an employer who would knowingly hire the alien and then conveniently use the unauthorized alien status to avoid paying wage loss benefits.”). The holding in Candelo, in addition to being binding authority on this court, advances 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 damages that it has knowingly created on the taxpaying public – ultimately placing it in a unfairly superior financial position to those employers who operate lawfully. Accordingly, here, we find no error in the JCC’s application of Candelo so as to preclude the E/C from raising Claimant’s illegal status, a concern that it waived when hiring and continuing to employ Claimant, as a defensive mechanism to avoid responsibility for an individual who is, based on the factual findings of the JCC, permanently and totally disabled under the Workers’ Compensation Law."
For over 3 decades the Law Offices of Jon L. Gelman 1.973.696.7900 jon@gelmans.com have been representing injured workers and their families who have suffered occupational accidents and illnesses.
