Texas Court Rules That Undocumented Workers Are Entitled To Damages For Lost Earning Capacity In State Negligence Actions

IMMIGRANTS & EMPLOYMENT

Immigrants' Employment Rights and Remedies

TEXAS COURT RULES THAT UNDOCUMENTED WORKERS ARE ENTITLED TO DAMAGES FOR LOST EARNING CAPACITY IN STATE NEGLIGENCE ACTIONS
Immigrants' Rights Update, Vol. 17, Issue 5 September 4, 2003

A Texas trial court has determined that the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in Hoffman Plastic Compounds, Inc. v. NLRB, 535 U.S. 137 (2002), does not prevent the state of Texas from awarding damages, including damages for lost earning capacity, to an individual who is not lawfully in the United States. (For a summary of the Hoffman decision, see "Supreme Court Bars Undocumented Worker from Receiving Back Pay Remedy for Unlawful Firing," IMMIGRANTS' RIGHTS UPDATE, Apr. 12, 2002, p. 10.)

Gustavo Guzman, a chicken catcher for a contractor of Tyson Foods, was injured when a Tyson employee ran into him with a forklift. Guzman sued Tyson, claiming that the accident was caused by the negligence of Tyson and its employee. A jury awarded Guzman $745,496 in damages, which included damages for lost earning capacity. Tyson appealed, arguing that Hoffman Plastic "militates against any award of wages as damages to undocumented laborers."

The court rejected that argument and found that Hoffman "only applies to an undocumented alien worker's remedy for an employer's violation of the [National Labor Relations Act] and does not apply to common-law personal injury damages." The court further held that "Texas law does not require citizenship or the possession of immigration work authorization permits as a prerequisite to recovering damages for earning capacity."

A New York State trial court recently issued a similar decision, also allowing undocumented workers to recover lost wages as tort damages. (For a summary of that decision, see "N.Y. Court Rules That Undocumented Workers Are Entitled to Damages for Lost Wages in State Tort Actions," IMMIGRANTS' RIGHTS UPDATE, July 15, 2003.)

Tyson Foods, Inc. v. Guzman,
2003 Tex. App. LEXIS 6643 (Tex. July 31, 2003).