Illinois Appellate Court ruling allows benefits for undocumented immigrant
According to an Illinois state appeals court, an employer cannot deny permanent total disability benefits for undocumented workers on the basis that their illegal status would keep them from working in the U.S. legally.
On December 12, 2008, the 1st Judicial District Appellate Court said the 1986 Immigration Reform and Control Act does not preclude the payment of workers' compensation benefits to undocumented workers.
In May of 2002, Ramona Navarro, a Mexican national, slipped and hurt herself wile working for Economy Packing Co. An arbitrator of the Illinois Workers' Compensation Commission awarded Navarro 60 weeks of Temporary Total Disability benefits and Permanent Total Disability benefits for life. Navarro was also found to be an "odd-lot" worker, which meant she was permanently and totally disabled from doing her former job. Due to her limited skills she was unable to find other work.
The Illinois Workers' Compensation Commission agreed and the trial court upheld the decision. Economy Packaging appealed the decision arguing that "undocumented aliens" are unemployable because of their illegal status and regardless of their physical capabilities.
According to Economy, Navarro needed to prove that she was unemployable based on her age, training, education and experience in order to receive benefits under the odd-lot theory.
The appeals court disagreed. Navarro would still be able to work elsewhere had she not been injured while working for Economy even though immigration laws prevented Navarro from working legally in the U.S.
Additionally, the employer has the burden of providing "sufficient evidence that suitable jobs would be regularly and continuously available to the undocumented alien but for her legal inability to obtain employment."
