The Manuel Case: Is Immigration Status Relevant to Liability in Civil Proceedings, Including Workers' Compensation?
| Publication year | 2022 |
| Author | WILLIAM A. HERRERAS, ESQ. |
WILLIAM A. HERRERAS, ESQ.
ARROYO GRANDE, CALIFORNIA
Does California public policy, implemented by statute, preclude inquiry regarding a workers' immigration status, thus prohibiting employers and others from intimidating workers in pursuing their protected labor rights, including workers' compensation benefits?
This question is now pending before the Sixth District Court of Appeal, Santa Clara, in the case Manuel v. Superior Court, Civil No. H048665. Several workers' interests groups have filed amicus briefs in support of this public policy, which statutorily prohibits inquiry regarding a person's immigration status in civil proceedings.
A writ of mandate filed by the plaintiff, Rigoberto José Manuel, challenged an order of the superior court compelling a response to a discovery order inquiring about the plaintiff's immigration status.
Over 2.8 million undocumented immigrants are estimated to be living in California—25 percent of all such residents in the nation.1 Many of these immigrants are likely to work in low-wage, high-injury industries like manufacturing, meat packing, poultry, textiles, agriculture, construction and restaurants.2 Because of their high-risk jobs and low wages, these workers are greatly in need of the protections of California's workers' compensation system.
The California Legislature has responded to this need by extending workers' compensation protections to undocumented workers. The Legislature has not only included undocumented workers in the Labor Code's definition of who is eligible to file claims for workers' compensation benefits, it has declared that undocumented workers should have every state labor and employment law protection, right and remedy that can be extended to such workers without running afoul of federal immigration law. Among other things, this latter declaration, enacted in 2002 as part of Labor Code section 1171.5, protects undocumented workers from employers who would retaliate against them for invoking their right to file workers' compensation claims. Such protections are indispensable to any effective workers' compensation system, which must safeguard against those employers who would fire, reprimand or otherwise punish injured workers who invoke their workplace rights. These essential protections are at stake in the case pending in the Sixth District.
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