The Arizona Supreme Court ruled recently that workers who hurt themselves on the job are entitled to compensation, even if they are in the United States illegally.  The Court upheld an appellate court ruling that Fermin Torres is entitled to payments despite his illegal status. 

The Court of Appeals had said that refusing benefits to those in the country illegally would persuade employers to hire more illegal immigrants.  Friday’s Supreme Court action made that ruling stand, potentially affecting the rights of the 283,000 “unauthorized residents” the U.S. Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement estimated in 2000 to be in Arizona.

Torres was injured during his first week of employment at Tiger Transmission when a piece of metal flew into his left eye. 

Thomas Luikens, the attorney representing Tiger Transmission argued that the Immigration Reform and Control Act makes it a crime for anyone not in the United States legally to be employed within its borders, making Torres ineligible for benefits.  Luikens said that federal law overrides the fact that neither citizenship nor legal entry is a prerequisite under state law for workers’ compensation. 

Luikens also proposed that a ruling made by the Arizona Supreme Court last year means those here illegally are not entitled to the protections of various laws designed to protect workers.  In that case, the U.S. Supreme Court said the National Labor Relations Board could not award back pay to an undocumented worker who had been laid off after engaging in protected union activity.

The Court of Appeals rejected these arguments, saying federal immigration policy does not contradict Arizona’s constitutional mandate of providing benefits to workers who are injured in the workplace.  The purpose of the law is to place the burden of on-the-job injury and death on industry.