Last month, the Commonwealth Court issued Kennett Square Specialties v. WCAB (Cruz), which is clearly the most significant decision affecting an undocumented alien’s right to receive workers’ compensation benefits since the seminal Supreme Court case, Reinforced Earth Co. v. WCAB (Astudillo) .
That case, decided in 2002, essentially held that a claimant’s status as an undocumented alien worker does not preclude him from receiving disability benefits under the Workers’ Compensation Act. The case further stood for the proposition that where the employer can show that the claimant is capable of performing any work at all, the employer is entitled to a suspension of benefits without the need of showing job availability under Kachinski v. W.C.A.B. (Vepco Construction Co.). The rationale behind the court’s decision was the presumption that an undocumented alien cannot legally accept work in this country, rendering the claimant’s loss of earning power his immigration status and not his work-related injury. Consequently, any vocational analysis would be moot.
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