Ohio Appeals Court Upholds Undocumented Workers’ Right To Workers’ Compensation

IMMIGRANTS & EMPLOYMENT

Immigrants' Employment Rights and Remedies

OHIO APPEALS COURT UPHOLDS UNDOCUMENTED WORKERS’ RIGHT TO WORKERS’ COMPENSATION
Immigrants' Rights Update, Vol. 18, No. 6, September 21, 2004

In a recent ruling, an Ohio appellate court affirmed the right of injured workers to receive workers’ compensation under state law, regardless of their immigration status.

The case involved a worker, Ghassan Rajeh, who is a citizen of Lebanon. In 1981, Rajeh became a lawful permanent resident of the United States but was ordered deported in 1993 by an immigration judge after he was convicted of an aggravated felony. Rajeh appealed his deportation order, but both the Board of Immigration Appeals and a federal circuit court upheld the IJ’s order. Rajeh subsequently was ordered to appear for deportation on two occasions, in 1995 and 1999, but failed to appear either time. As a result, he was arrested in 1999. Rajeh then petitioned the BIA for relief from deportation under the Convention Against Torture (CAT). In Sept. 2001, the BIA granted Rajeh relief under the CAT.

Rajeh obtained a job at Steel City Corporation in March 1997, during the time his deportation order was effective. He did not inform Steel City of his deportation order. Rajeh was injured on June 30, 1997, while moving a skid at Steel City. He subsequently filed for workers’ compensation. While the claim initially was accepted, Steel City later petitioned the Industrial Commission of Ohio to deny Rajeh’s claim after it learned of his deportation order.

Pursuant to Steel City’s request, Rajeh’s claim was reexamined by a district hearing officer and then a staff hearing officer. Both officers concluded that Rajeh was not entitled to workers’ compensation. The district hearing officer found that while Ohio law does not preclude undocumented workers from participating in the Workers’ Compensation Fund, Rajeh was not entitled to payments for temporary total disability (TTD) given that federal law prohibits undocumented immigrants from employment and that, because of this, Rajeh was unable to fulfill the requirement TTD recipients must meet of being able eventually to return to work. The staff hearing officer also denied Rajeh benefits, but on different grounds. The staff hearing officer concluded that Rajeh was not entitled to participate in the Workers’ Compensation Fund because he was not a “qualified alien” eligible to receive state public benefits within the meaning of federal law and that he was an “unauthorized alien,” which legally precluded him from being an “employee” (as defined in Ohio’s workers’ compensation statute) of Steel City.

Rajeh appealed to the Industrial Commission, which refused to hear the appeal. He then filed an appeal notice with the County Common Pleas Court, which awarded summary judgment in favor of Steel City. Rajeh subsequently filed a notice of appeal with the Ohio Court of Appeals. The court addressed two issues and found in Rajeh’s favor on both. The first issue was whether Rajeh was an “employee” at the time he was injured. The second issue was whether Ohio’s Workers’ Compensation Fund constitutes a state public benefit to which only “qualified aliens” are entitled.

In analyzing the first issue, the court looked at whether Rajeh fit the definition of “employee” under Ohio’s workers’ compensation statute and whether or not federal law precludes undocumented workers from receiving benefits under the statute. The court cited the plain language of the workers’ compensation statute, specifically the section that defines “employee.” The court emphasized that the definition expressly includes “aliens and minors,” and rejected Steel City’s argument that the legislature intended “aliens” to mean “legal aliens” only.

In rejecting Steel City’s argument, the court noted that the workers’ compensation statute includes a section outlining what “employee” does not mean, and nowhere in that section is “illegal alien” mentioned. In addition, the court recognized that the Ohio legislature has specifically excluded undocumented workers from eligibility for unemployment compensation. In making this point, the court stated that “Had the legislature also intended to exclude illegal aliens from collecting workers’ compensation, presumably it would have taken the same effort to spell out its intent.” Lastly, the court cited an Ohio Supreme Court decision, State ex rel. Papadopoulos v. Indus. Comm., 196 N.E. 780 (1935), that declined to differentiate between U.S. citizens and undocumented workers in the context of workers’ compensation benefits.

Although the court found that Rajeh clearly was an “employee” as defined by the Ohio statute, it noted that federal law also must be considered in order to fully address the first issue before the court. On this point, Steel City argued that because Rajeh could not be legally employed under federal immigration law, he cannot be an “employee” under state workers’ compensation law. The court rejected this argument, relying primarily on public policy concerns. The court acknowledged that “one of the purposes of the workers’ compensation system is to promote a safe and injury-free work environment.” It reasoned that if undocumented workers were exempt from collecting workers’ compensation, “underhanded employers might be prone to hire illegal aliens.” Since such employers would not suffer consequences if these employees were injured at work, they “may become lax in workplace safety.” The court acknowledged additional policy concerns articulated by other courts that have upheld the right of undocumented workers to collect workers’ compensation. Relying on statutory language and public policy interests, the court held that Rajeh had been an “employee” who under Ohio law is entitled to recover from the Workers’ Compensation Fund.

The court then addressed the second issue, namely, whether the federal law requirement that state benefits be available only to “qualified aliens” precludes Rajeh from receiving workers’ compensation. The law at issue, 8 USC sec. 1621, provides that an “alien who is not a qualified alien (as defined in [8 USC sec. 1641]) . . . [or] a nonimmigrant under the Immigration and Nationality Act . . . is not eligible for any State or local public benefit . . . .” The court found that workers’ compensation is not a “state benefit” as defined by federal law. Instead, it held that workers’ compensation statutes provide for a “substitutionary remedy for a negligence suit.” The court concluded that because workers’ compensation is not a “state or local public benefit” under federal law, Rajeh did not have to be a “qualified alien” in order to participate in the Workers’ Compensation Fund.

Rajeh v. Steel City Corp. et al., 2004 Ohio App. LEXIS 2890 (Ohio Ct. App. June 15, 2004).