Do undocumented aliens have workman's comp coverage? DC court says, yes.

There was a recent development in the debate as to whether aliens not authorized to work in this country -- or perhaps not even to be here -- can recover for legal wrongs. The local appeals court for the District of Columbia decided in Asylum Company v. District of Columbia Department of Employment Services, 2010 D.C. App. LEXIS 732 (Dec. 23, 2010) [enhanced version available to lexis.com subscribers / unenhanced version available from lexisONE Free Case Law], that an undocumented alien could receive worker's compensation for injuries suffered on the job. In 2002 the U.S. Supreme Court, in Hoffman Plastic Compounds v. NLRB, 535 U.S. 137 [enhanced version / unenhanced version], said that unauthorized alien workers could not recover backpay after their employer violated federal labor law. The reason was that allowing recovery for illegal work was against public policy. But the D.C. court ruled, as some other courts have, that the policy against unauthorized alien workers did not override the policy requiring employers to compensate injured workers.

More information is available from LexisNexis resources, including :

Immigration Law and Procedure section 7.03 [access this source with your lexis.com ID / purchase Immigration Law and Procedure at the LexisNexis Bookstore]

Stanley Mailman & Stephen Yale-Loehr, Supreme Court Denies Back Pay to Fired Undocumented Immigrants, 7 Bender's Immigration Bulletin 495 (May 1, 2002 issue) [access the full article with your lexis.com ID / purchase Bender's Immigration Bulletin at the LexisNexis Bookstore]

Stanley Mailman & Stephen Yale-Loehr, When Undocumented Workers Seek Compensation for Personal Injuries, 10 Bender's Immigration Bulletin 1709 (11/15/05) [access the full article with your lexis.com ID / purchase Bender's Immigration Bulletin at the LexisNexis Bookstore]

Farmer Brothers Coffee v. Workers' Compensation Appeals Board, 133 Cal. App. 4th 533, 35 Cal. Rptr. 3d 23, 2005 Cal. App. LEXIS 1618 (10/17/05) [enhanced version / unenhanced version]

Continental PET Technologies, Inc. v. Palacias, 269 Ga. App. 561, 604 S.E.2d 627, 2004 Ga. App. LEXIS 1225 [enhanced version / unenhanced version]

Rebecca Smith & Maria Blanco, Used and Abused: The Treatment of Undocumented Victims of Labor Law Violations Since Hoffman Plastic Compounds v. NLRB, 8 Bender's Immigr. Bull. 890 (May 15, 2003) [access the full article with your lexis.com ID / purchase Bender's Immigration Bulletin at the LexisNexis Bookstore]

Rajeh v. Steel City Corp., 157 Ohio App. 3d 722, 813 N.E. 2d 697, 2004 Ohio 3211 [enhanced version / unenhanced version]

Craig Eley, Termination of Undocumented Workers Under the Workers' Compensation Act, Apr. 15, 2008 issue of BIB (13 Bender's Immigration Bulletin 439) [access the full article with your lexis.com ID / purchase Bender's Immigration Bulletin at the LexisNexis Bookstore]

Balbuena v. IDR Realty LLC, 6 N.Y.3d 338, 845 N.E.2d 1246, 812 N.Y.S.2d 416 (2006) [enhanced version / unenhanced version]