AURELIO GONZALEZ, Employee/Appellant,
v.
MIDWEST STAFFING GROUP, INC., and AMERICAN COMPENSATION INS. by RTW, INC., Employer-Insurer,
and
ALLINA HEALTH SYS. d/b/a UNITED HOSP., Intervenor/Cross-Appellant.
Minnesota Workers Compensation
Workers' Compensation Court of Appeals
April 6, 1999
HEADNOTES
EXCLUSIONS
FROM COVERAGE - ALIENS; STATUTES CONSTRUED - MINN. Stat. §
176.011, SUBD. 9. The compensation judge erred as a
matter of law in concluding that the petitioner did not
qualify as an "employee" under Minn. Stat. §
176.011, subd. 9, because of his status as an undocumented
alien.
Reversed.
Determined
en banc.
Compensation Judge: Paul V. Rieke.
OPINION
DEBRA
A. WILSON, Judge
The
employee and the intervenor, Allina Health Systems, appeal
from the compensation judge's decision that Aurelio
Gonzalez is not eligible for benefits under the Minnesota
workers' compensation statutes because he is an
undocumented alien. We reverse.
BACKGROUND
Aurelio
Gonzalez [Gonzalez] is an undocumented alien who does not
possess a valid social security card or resident alien
card. He entered the United States in 1997 and
eventually purchased a social security card and resident
alien card, knowing that they were counterfeit.
Gonzalez
applied for work at Midwest Staffing Group, Inc.[the
employer], on November 12, 1997, and presented the false
social security card and resident alien card, knowing that he
could not obtain employment without them. The employer
relied on Gonzalez's documents and would not have hired
him if it had been aware that he was an undocumented alien.
Gonzalez
was subsequently assigned to work at Tilsner Carton. On
March 30, 1998, Gonzalez sustained a work-related injury to
his left upper extremity, and, as a result of that
injury, he received reasonable and necessary medical
care and treatment from various medical providers. He
has been off work since March 30, 1998, and was released to
one-handed, light-duty work effective July 13, 1998. The
United States Immigration and Naturalization Service was
advised of Gonzalez's background, but, as of the fall of
1998, no action had been commenced.
Gonzalez
filed a claim petition seeking temporary total disability
benefits, medical expenses, and...