Series

Insult to Injury

America’s Vanishing Worker Protections

Stories

Florida Lawmakers to Review Law Targeting Injured Undocumented Workers

Citing an NPR and ProPublica investigation, a top Florida lawmaker and a national insurance fraud group criticized a law used by insurers to turn in injured undocumented workers and avoid paying workers’ comp benefits.

Se lesionaron en el trabajo. Y entonces fueron deportados.

Cómo las compañías de seguros usan las leyes de Florida para hacer que inmigrantes indocumentados sean arrestados y deportados cuando se lesionan en el trabajo — y lo que significa en la América de Trump.

They Got Hurt at Work. Then They Got Deported.

How insurance companies use a Florida law to get undocumented immigrants arrested and deported when they get injured on the job — and what it means in Trump’s America.

Senator Demands Answers From Case Farms

An investigation by ProPublica and The New Yorker documented how the chicken company turned to immigrants to work at its plants. Then, when they got hurt or fought back, it used America’s laws against them.

The Breakthrough: A Reporter Crosses Borders to Uncover Labor Abuse

ProPublica’s Michael Grabell travels from the heart of Ohio to the mountains of Guatemala to track down immigrant workers harmed in American poultry plants.

Supreme Court Won’t Take Up R.J. Reynolds Age Discrimination Case

The decision in a case involving the nation’s second-largest tobacco company gives employers new ways to shield themselves from charges of bias against older applicants.

Case Farms Responds to Our Story

After our story about the chicken processor’s reliance on immigrant workers, Case Farms issued a statement. Here’s some context that’s missing.

Sold for Parts

One of the most dangerous companies in the U.S. took advantage of immigrant workers. Then, when they got hurt or fought back, it used America’s laws against them.

Vendidos por Piezas

Una de las empresas más peligrosas en los Estados Unidos se aprovechó de trabajadores inmigrantes. Después, cuando se hicieron daño o se resistieron, la empresa utilizó las leyes americanas contra ellos.

Photos: Returning to the Roots of Case Farms’ Workforce

One of the most dangerous companies in the U.S. took advantage of immigrant workers. Then, when they got hurt or fought back, it used America’s laws against them.

Conociendo los orígenes de la mano de obra de Case Farms

Ensayo Fotográfico: Conociendo los orígenes de la mano de obra de Case Farms

Inside Corporate America’s Campaign To Ditch Workers’ Comp

One Texas lawyer is helping companies opt out of workers’ compensation and write their own rules. What does it mean for injured workers?

The Fallout of Workers’ Comp ‘Reforms’: 5 Tales of Harm

Injured workers share their stories, revealing the real-life impact of rollbacks that have been spreading across the country.

How Much Is Your Arm Worth? Depends On Where You Work

Each state determines its own workers’ compensation benefits, which means workers in adjoining states can end up with dramatically different compensation for identical injuries.

The Demolition of Workers’ Comp

Over the past decade, states have slashed workers’ compensation benefits, denying injured workers help when they need it most and shifting the costs of workplace accidents to taxpayers.

‘I Try to Forget’

Joel Ramirez was paralyzed from the waist down in 2009 when a 900-pound crate fell on him while on the job. A new #WorkersComp law in 2014 passed in California and the home health aide he relied on was taken away. This is his life now.

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The Breakthrough: A Reporter Finds a Man Proven Innocent, But Still Guilty in Eyes of the Law

Why Do Border Deaths Persist When the Number of Border Crossings Is Falling?

California Regulators Require Auto Insurers to Adjust Rates

Florida Lawmakers to Review Law Targeting Injured Undocumented Workers

By Howard Berkes, NPR, and Michael Grabell, ProPublica, Aug. 24, 2017, 8 a.m.

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<h1>Florida Lawmakers to Review Law Targeting Injured Undocumented Workers</h1>By Howard Berkes, NPR, and Michael Grabell, ProPublica, Aug. 24, 2017, 8 a.m.The second-highest ranking member of the Florida Senate pledged a legislative review of a state law that has allowed injured undocumented workers to be arrested and potentially deported rather than paid workers' compensation benefits."Legitimate injuries shouldn't be denied just because the person was an undocumented immigrant," said Republican Sen. Anitere Flores, the president pro tempore of the state Senate and chair of the Banking and Insurance Committee."One needs to balance the going after fraudulent claims," she said, "with not overcompensating and then denying claims to those individuals who have actually been injured."Flores spoke in response to a recent <a href="http://www.npr.org/2017/08/16/543650270/they-got-hurt-at-work-then-they-got-deported">NPR</a> and <a href="https://www.propublica.org/article/they-got-hurt-at-work-then-they-got-deported">ProPublica</a> investigation and a subsequent statement by the nation's largest insurance fraud group, which called on Florida lawmakers to change the law. The <a href="https://www.insurancefraud.org/blog/aug-2017/florida-loophole-lets-insurers-deny">Coalition Against Insurance Fraud</a> said employers and insurance companies are applying the law in ways that place "the credibility of combating real fraud at risk.""Legislators in the Sunshine State need to correct this loophole so workers hurt on the job get the care they need," said Dennis Jay, executive director of the coalition, which is made up of insurance companies, government agencies, consumer organizations and insurance fraud investigators."I just see the credibility of the anti-fraud effort being hurt by such practices," Jay said in an interview.NPR and ProPublica found that nearly 800 undocumented workers in Florida have been charged with workers' comp fraud for using illicit Social Security numbers to either get their jobs, file for workers' compensation benefits or both. More than 560 didn't actually file workers' comp claims but still were charged with fraud. Another 130 suffered legitimate workplace injuries but were denied benefits and prosecuted. Some were detained by federal immigration authorities and deported.Like most states, Florida provides workers' comp benefits to undocumented workers despite their legal status. The state's workers' comp law was <a href="http://www.leg.state.fl.us/statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&amp;URL=0400-0499/0440/Sections/0440.105.html">amended in 2003</a> to make the use of false identification in obtaining jobs and workers' comp benefits a felony."I don't see how they can legally justify that," Jay said. "It also paints insurers as uncaring, greedy corporations that allow human suffering to make a buck."Some of the insurance companies who have used the Florida law to deny claims are members of Jay's coalition, as is the state agency that administers the law.Jon Moore, spokesman for the <a href="http://www.myfloridacfo.com/Division/DIFS/">Florida Division of Investigative and Forensic Services</a>, said his agency is "obligated to enforce the law as it relates to the workers' compensation system in Florida." But he said, "another look into the questions that are being posed may be warranted. What is the balance between the harm and the benefits that are being produced?"Flores said she is especially concerned about companies who may hire undocumented workers knowing that the threat of prosecution and deportation may keep them from pursuing workers' comp claims if they are injured at work.‘That's borderline unconscionable," Flores said, adding that she'll seek the legislature's review of this use of Florida law as part of a planned broader look at the state's workers' compensation law.John Porreca, the owner of SouthEast Personnel Leasing and subsidiaries Lion Insurance and Packard Claims, did not respond to a request for comment. Porreca's companies were featured in NPR and ProPublica's story and turned in far more injured workers than any others.Steve Cassell, the president of Command Investigations, which investigates the backgrounds of undocumented workers for insurers and features a gallery of injured workers on its website, also did not respond.Brian Carter, a Florida workers' comp attorney, welcomed the call for changes to the Florida law. He says undocumented workers use illicit Social Security numbers because they can't get jobs without them and employers in Florida need those workers."It is illogical to legislatively provide workers' compensation benefits to undocumented workers," Carter said, "and then legislatively make it criminal to use a false Social Security number for identification."&nbsp;Jay added that his group is already engaging Florida lawmakers and will offer assistance in drafting alternative legislation.ProPublica is a Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative newsroom. Sign up for their <a href="http://www.propublica.org/forms/newsletter_daily_email">newsletter</a>.<link rel="canonical" href="http://www.propublica.org/article/florida-lawmakers-to-review-law-targeting-injured-undocumented-workers"><meta name="syndication-source" content="http://www.propublica.org/article/florida-lawmakers-to-review-law-targeting-injured-undocumented-workers"><script type="text/javascript" src="http://pixel.propublica.org/pixel.js" async></script>

Series

America’s Vanishing Worker Protections

Stories

Citing an NPR and ProPublica investigation, a top Florida lawmaker and a national insurance fraud group criticized a law used by insurers to turn in injured undocumented workers and avoid paying workers’ comp benefits.

Cómo las compañías de seguros usan las leyes de Florida para hacer que inmigrantes indocumentados sean arrestados y deportados cuando se lesionan en el trabajo — y lo que significa en la América de Trump.

How insurance companies use a Florida law to get undocumented immigrants arrested and deported when they get injured on the job — and what it means in Trump’s America.

An investigation by ProPublica and The New Yorker documented how the chicken company turned to immigrants to work at its plants. Then, when they got hurt or fought back, it used America’s laws against them.

ProPublica’s Michael Grabell travels from the heart of Ohio to the mountains of Guatemala to track down immigrant workers harmed in American poultry plants.

The decision in a case involving the nation’s second-largest tobacco company gives employers new ways to shield themselves from charges of bias against older applicants.

After our story about the chicken processor’s reliance on immigrant workers, Case Farms issued a statement. Here’s some context that’s missing.

One of the most dangerous companies in the U.S. took advantage of immigrant workers. Then, when they got hurt or fought back, it used America’s laws against them.

Una de las empresas más peligrosas en los Estados Unidos se aprovechó de trabajadores inmigrantes. Después, cuando se hicieron daño o se resistieron, la empresa utilizó las leyes americanas contra ellos.

One of the most dangerous companies in the U.S. took advantage of immigrant workers. Then, when they got hurt or fought back, it used America’s laws against them.

Ensayo Fotográfico: Conociendo los orígenes de la mano de obra de Case Farms

One Texas lawyer is helping companies opt out of workers’ compensation and write their own rules. What does it mean for injured workers?

Injured workers share their stories, revealing the real-life impact of rollbacks that have been spreading across the country.

Each state determines its own workers’ compensation benefits, which means workers in adjoining states can end up with dramatically different compensation for identical injuries.

Over the past decade, states have slashed workers’ compensation benefits, denying injured workers help when they need it most and shifting the costs of workplace accidents to taxpayers.

Joel Ramirez was paralyzed from the waist down in 2009 when a 900-pound crate fell on him while on the job. A new #WorkersComp law in 2014 passed in California and the home health aide he relied on was taken away. This is his life now.

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