Fernando CORREA, Respondent, v. WAYMOUTH FARMS, INC., and St. Paul Mercury Insurance Co., Relators.
No. C9-02-1172.
Supreme Court of Minnesota.
July 3, 2003.
664 N.W.2d 324
Michael G. Schultz, Sommerer & Schultz, P.A., Minneapolis, for Respondent.
Steven T. Scharfenberg, Lynn, Scharfenberg & Associates, Minneapolis, for Amicus Curiae, Insurance Federation of America.
Charles M. Cochrane, Cochrane Law Office, P.A., Roseville, for Amicus Curiae, Minnesota Trial Lawyers Association.
OPINION
PAGE, Justice.
Waymouth Farms, Inc., and its workers’ compensation insurer, St. Paul Mercury Insurance Company (collectively, Waymouth Farms), seek review of a decision of the Workers’ Compensation Court of Appeals (WCCA) affirming an award of temporary total disability benefits to Fernando Correa (Correa). We affirm.
Born in Mexico, Correa came to the United States in 1987 with a passport and visa. Although Correa has lived and worked in the United States since 1987, he has never become a citizen nor obtained legal authorization to work in the United States. In November 1999, Waymouth
On March 3, 2000, while performing his regular duties at Waymouth Farms, Correa bent down to lift a 30-pound box off of the floor and felt pain in his back. When he stood up, the pain dissipated so he continued to work. The next day, Saturday, the pain was so intense Correa had difficulty getting out of bed. When he returned to work on Monday, Correa reported the injury to his supervisor. Waymouth Farms accepted the injury as compensable under the
Correa received medical treatment for the pain in his lower back and left leg from Dr. Gomez at the Noran Neurological Clinic. When the pain continued to increase, Dr. Gomez referred Correa to a neurosurgeon. On July 20, 2000, Correa underwent microdiscectomy surgery at L-4 and 5. Waymouth Farms paid Correa wage loss benefits, covered his medical expenses arising from the surgery, and provided rehabilitation services, including the services of a qualified rehabilitation consultant (QRC).
After the surgery, Correa received follow-up treatment from Dr. Gomez, underwent physical therapy, and completed a work-hardening program. Upon completion of the work-hardening program, Dr. Gomez authorized Correa to return to work on a restricted basis. Dr. Gomez limited Correa to a maximum of four-hour shifts and instructed him to frequently change positions and avoid bending. On December 19, 2000, Correa returned to work part-time at Waymouth Farms. As a result of the restrictions, Correa was unable to resume his position as an order picker and Waymouth Farms provided him with light-duty work. Correa also attempted to return to work at Schlotzsky‘s, but Schlotzsky‘s refused to allow him to return until he was released to work without medical restrictions.
On February 7, 2001, Waymouth Farms notified Correa that the Immigration and Naturalization Service had discovered: (1) the alien registration number Correa provided did not exist; (2) the social security number provided by Correa did not match his name; and (3) there was no alien registration number that corresponded to Correa‘s name and birth date. Waymouth Farms suspended Correa and gave him 48 hours to provide valid documentation of his eligibility to work in the United States. On February 9, 2001, Correa notified Waymouth Farms that he could not provide the requested documentation. Waymouth Farms then terminated Correa‘s employment effective February 7, 2001.
After his termination, Correa, although still subject to medical restrictions, commenced a job search. He conducted the job search on his own without the assistance of the QRC. Because of his restrictions, he was only able to conduct the job search for two to three hours per day. Correa testified that as a result of his job search he located several potential jobs, including one with a former employer, but was not offered employment due to his back injury and resulting work restrictions.
While conducting the job search, Correa continued to receive follow-up care and physical therapy, but the pain in his back and left leg increased. On March 6, 2001, Correa sought a second surgical opinion from Dr. Sunny Kim. Dr. Kim recom
On February 21, 2001, shortly after terminating Correa, Waymouth Farms filed a notice of intention to discontinue Correa‘s temporary total disability benefits on the ground that he was medically released to work but could not, as an unauthorized alien, legally work in the United States. Pursuant to
In May 2001, Waymouth Farms filed a petition to discontinue compensation benefits. Waymouth Farms asserted that Correa‘s benefits should be discontinued for the following reasons: (1) the surgery requested was not reasonable, necessary, or related to the work injury; (2) Correa was capable of working; and (3) Correa‘s immigration status prevented him from gaining lawful employment and conducting a diligent job search. At the hearing on the parties’ consolidated claims held on August 22, 2001, Correa testified that after entering the United States in 1987 he had worked continuously at various physical-labor positions, often working two jobs at once.
In denying the petition to discontinue, the compensation judge found that Correa‘s job search was both reasonable and diligent under the circumstances. In addition, the compensation judge also granted Correa‘s medical request and rejected Waymouth Farms’ claim that Correa‘s wage loss was due to his status as an unauthorized alien.1 Correa‘s medical request was also granted. On appeal to the WCCA, the sole issue raised by Waymouth Farms was whether Correa is entitled to temporary total disability benefits for the period from February 7 to March 6, 2001. Waymouth Farms argued that Correa was not entitled to receive benefits for that period because he was not legally able to work in the United States and, therefore, as a matter of law, was unable to perform a reasonable and diligent job search as required by
Waymouth Farms asks us to review on certiorari whether the Immigration Reform Control Act (IRCA), or the policy behind it, prevents unauthorized aliens from conducting a diligent job search.
The determination of whether the IRCA, or the policy behind it, prevents an unauthorized alien from conducting a diligent job search under the Minnesota Workers’ Compensation Act is a question of law. We are free to exercise our independent judgment when reviewing questions of law determined by the WCCA. Owens v. Water Gremlin Co., 605 N.W.2d 733, 735 (Minn. 2000). In our determination, we are guided by the statutory mandate that “[q]uestions of law * * * shall be determined on an even-handed basis in accordance with the principles laid down in
The purpose of the Minnesota Workers’ Compensation Act (Act) is to provide “a measure of security to workers injured on the job, with the burden of that expense considered a proportionate part of the expense of production.” Le v. Kurt Mfg., 557 N.W.2d 202, 204 (Minn. 1996) (quoting Franke v. Fabcon, Inc., 509 N.W.2d 373, 376 (Minn. 1993)). A fundamental component of the Act is the wage loss benefit, of which temporary total disability compensation is a significant part. The compensation for an injury producing temporary total disability “is 66-2/3 percent of the weekly wage at the time of injury.”
Waymouth Farms asserts that Correa, as an unauthorized alien, cannot make a diligent search for work because he cannot be lawfully employed. In 1986, Congress enacted the IRCA, “a comprehensive scheme prohibiting the employment of illegal aliens in the United States.” Hoffman Plastic Compounds, Inc. v. NLRB, 535 U.S. 137, 147, 122 S.Ct. 1275, 152 L.Ed.2d 271. The IRCA made it illegal to knowingly employ unauthorized aliens.
The IRCA requires employers to check certain documentation of citizenship or immigration status for all employees.
Between February 7 and March 6, 2001, Correa was medically released to work with restrictions; thus, he was re
As written, the IRCA does not prohibit unauthorized aliens from receiving state workers’ compensation benefits generally or temporary total disability benefits conditioned on a diligent job search specifically. The focus of the IRCA is on preventing employers from hiring unauthorized aliens. Aside from the prohibition on tendering fraudulent documents, the IRCA does not prohibit unauthorized aliens from seeking or accepting employment in the United States. See Champion Auto Body v. Indus. Claim Appeals Office of the State of Colo., 950 P.2d 671, 673 (Colo.Ct.App. 1997); Maria L. Ontiveros, To Help Those Most in Need: Undocumented Workers’ Rights and Remedies Under Title VII, 20 N.Y.U. Rev. L. & Soc. Change 607, 612 (1994); Linda S. Bosniak, Exclusion and Membership: The Dual Identity of the Undocumented Worker Under United States Law, 1988 Wis. L.Rev. 955, 979 n. 90. The IRCA is not aimed at impairing existing state labor protections.2 For example, all employees, including unauthorized aliens, are protected by the provisions of the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) and Fair Labor Standards
Turning to the language of the Act,
Entitlement to temporary total disability compensation is conditioned on the establishment of a causal link between the work-related disability and the inability to find and hold a job, such as through evidence of a diligent work search. Redgate, 421 N.W.2d at 733. In Redgate, we defined “diligent job search” as “a search that is reasonable under all the facts and circumstances.” Id. at 734. In addition, we concluded that to be persuasive of the fact that no job the employee is capable of doing is available, a diligent job search “must ordinarily be more than perfunctory.” Id. Redgate requires a consideration of “all the facts and circumstances” when determining whether the employee has conducted a diligent job search. Immigration status is only one of the many facts and circumstances to be considered.
Although the Act permits unauthorized aliens to recover temporary total disability benefits conditioned on a diligent job search and the IRCA does not explicitly prohibit the state from awarding such benefits, Waymouth Farms argues that this court should adopt the United States Supreme Court‘s reasoning from Hoffman and conclude that the federal immigration policy articulated in the IRCA prohibits such an award. In Hoffman, a 5-4 decision, the majority concluded that the federal immigration policy underlying the IRCA precludes an award of backpay to an unauthorized alien who was unlawfully discharged by his employer for participating in union activity in violation of the National Labor Relations Act. Hoffman, 535 U.S. at 140, 122 S.Ct. 1275. In support of its conclusion, the majority noted that under the IRCA it is impossible for an unauthorized alien to obtain employment “without some party directly contravening explicit congressional policies.” Id. at 148, 122 S.Ct. 1275. For an unauthorized alien to gain employment, “[e]ither the undocumented alien tenders fraudulent identification, which subverts the cornerstone of IRCA‘s enforcement mechanism, or the employer knowingly hires the undocumented alien in direct contradiction of its IRCA obligations.” Id.
As a further justification for denying unauthorized aliens backpay, the majority observed that unauthorized aliens cannot mitigate damages by searching for new work “without triggering new IRCA violations, either by tendering false documents to employers or by finding employers willing to ignore IRCA and hire illegal workers.” Id. at 150-51, 122 S.Ct. 1275. Therefore, the majority concluded that the award of backpay to an unauthorized alien contradicts the policy expressed in the IRCA and “would encourage the successful evasion of apprehension by immigration authorities, condone prior violations of the immigration laws, and encourage future violations.” Id. at 151, 122 S.Ct. 1275. The Court, therefore, held that the backpay award was beyond the remedial discretion of the National Labor Relations Board (Board). Id. at 151-52, 122 S.Ct. 1275.
Because the IRCA does not preclude payment of temporary total disability benefits and the language of our Act is clear, we do not have occasion to consider the policy question Waymouth Farms urges us to address.4 Therefore, we conclude that unauthorized aliens are entitled to receive temporary total disability benefits conditioned on a diligent job search. While we decline to address the policy questions raised by Waymouth Farms, if policy considerations favor a different result, that determination is more properly left to the legislature to make.
Affirmed.
GILBERT, Justice (dissenting).
I respectfully dissent from the majority opinion and would reverse the decision of the WCCA. The majority‘s holding ignores important federal immigration requirements by creating a legal fiction of a diligent job search that is contrary to federal law. The IRCA explicitly prohibits the employment of unauthorized aliens.
Such a job search would violate federal law. There are criminal penalties for unauthorized aliens who use fraudulent documents to satisfy the requirements of the IRCA.
Moreover, the policy considerations articulated in Hoffman Plastic Compounds, Inc. v. NLRB, 535 U.S. 137, 122 S.Ct. 1275, 152 L.Ed.2d 271 (2002), are applicable here. As the United States Supreme Court recognized, Correa cannot conduct a diligent job search “without triggering new IRCA violations, either by tendering false documents to employers or by finding employers willing to ignore IRCA and hire illegal workers.” Id. at 150-51, 122 S.Ct. 1275. In addition, awarding Correa continuing temporary total disability benefits predicated on a diligent job search would reward him for remaining in the United States illegally and encourage him to violate the IRCA by finding further employment. This result “trivializes” the immigrations laws. Id. at 150, 122 S.Ct. 1275. In support of its holding, the majority adopts the rationale of the dissent in Hoffman. However, the dissent did not carry the day in Hoffman. We should not disregard the law of the land as articulated by the Hoffman majority and elevate the dissent over the majority opinion to reach a desired result in this case.
Furthermore, awarding Correa these wage loss benefits would expose Waymouth Farms to higher workers’ compensation liability, thereby penalizing Waymouth Farms for obeying federal law by terminating Correa. Finally, the majority‘s holding elevates the rights of unauthorized aliens over those of documented employees. Unauthorized aliens released to return to work are unable to accept jobs that documented workers with similar injuries would be required to accept.1 Awarding unauthorized aliens continuing temporary total disability benefits not conditioned on working or making a diligent job search not only violates the requirements of the Workers’ Compensation Act, it also unjustly requires employers to pay benefits to unauthorized aliens that they would not have to pay to documented workers with similar injuries.
For the above reasons, I would hold as a matter of law that the unauthorized alien‘s illegal status prevents the alien from conducting a diligent job search because any job search would be based on fraud and deception as to immigration status. This court should not condone this legal fiction by interpreting the Act and the IRCA in isolation and awarding temporary total disability benefits in disregard of the common sense requirements of the Act. Congress and our legislature are better suited than our court to deal with this important but strictly policy issue.