Major Decision for Undocumented Workers

It happens everyday. We get a phone call from somebody who knows an undocumented worker who was badly injured in a workplace accident. Most of the time its because of an unsafe workplace. In the last year we have seen two cases where undocumented workers here on Long Island not only were were very badly injured from unsafe work places but in an attempt to avoid the authorities the employer did not call an ambulance. They actually drove the employee around in the backseat of a car until the employer could figure out how to get out of his perceived predicament. THIS HAPPENED TWICE! BOTH EMPLOYEES WERE PERMANENTLY PARALYZED FROM THEIR INJURIES! These victims and others were day workers and were clearly working in an environment that was against state and federal safety workplace laws. Recently, the Appellate Division has reviewed a case where a worker who was not only undocumented but used fraudulent identification papers to obtain his job but got hurt. The employer contested his workers' compensation benefits saying that the employee gave up that benefit when he used fake identification. The Court handed down an interesting decision.Click here to find out the summary and to get a copy of the actual court document.