Illegal Alien – Filing Lawsuit
Thursday, August 7th, 2014
The Western District Court of Appeals recently opined on the issue of whether an unauthorized alien has standing to pursue a retaliatory discharge claim against his or her employer. Torres, an undocumented worker, alleged that his employer terminated his employment as a direct result of the employee asserting a workers’ compensation claim. The employer moved for summary judgment arguing that Torres could not bring a claim for retaliatory discharge because he was incapable of employment in Tennessee. The trial court granted summary judgment based solely on the illegal status of Torres.
On appeal, the court noted that a retaliatory discharge action does not seek to protect a person’s legal claim to a job, but rather seeks to protect an “employee’s” right to file a workers compensation claim if deterred by an employer’s action. Citing both judicial and legislative authority, the Court of Appeals found that unauthorized aliens working for employers are considered “employees” and thus have standing to bring a workers compensation claim.
Having found that Torres had the right to file a workers’ compensation claim, the court then turned to the issue of whether Torres retained the ability to protect the right to by filing a retaliatory discharge claim. Although this was an issue of first impression, courts in Tennessee and across the country routinely permit unauthorized aliens to sue when their rights are injured in other ways, including bringing causes of action in tort or contract. Based on this, the court found illegal status was insufficient to bar an unauthorized alien from bringing a claim for retaliatory discharge against an employer to protect his or her right to file a claim for workers’ compensation. Torres v. Precision Industries, et al., No. W2014-00032-COA-R3-CV (Tenn. Ct. App. Aug. 5, 2014).