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Farmers Brothers Coffee v. Workers' Compensation Appeals Board10/17/2005
CERTIFIED FOR PUBLICATION
BACKGROUND
We issued a writ of review on April 4, 2005, with regard to two workers' compensation matters and consolidated them for argument and decision. Each petition contends that the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 (IRCA), title 8 United States Code section 1101 et seq., preempts Labor Code section 1171.5, which provides that immigration status is irrelevant to the issue of liability under state labor and employment laws, and Labor Code section 3351, which includes aliens in the definition of "employee," even those unlawfully employed. In each case, it was undisputed that the employee was an alien, unauthorized to work in the United States at the time of the injury. We have subsequently severed the two matters, and now proceed only with the petition of Farmer Brothers Coffee.
The bifurcated issue of Rafael Ruiz against his employer, Farmer Brothers Coffee, whether he was an employee within the context of the California Workers' Compensation scheme was submitted on documentary evidence and depositions, in addition to additional testimony from Ruiz and Andy Lee, the employer's warehouse and shipping manager. On November 5, 2004, the workers' compensation judge issued an opinion and the following finding: "Applicant is an employee per Labor Code Sections 3351 [subdivision] (a) and 3357."
Farmer Brothers then filed a petition for reconsideration by the Board on the grounds of federal preemption and its contention that Ruiz obtained employment and his expectation of benefits by means of fraud, in violation of Insurance Code section 1871.4. The Board rejected the contentions, and denied the petition for reconsideration on December 22, 2004.
The petition for review was timely filed in this court within 45 days of the Board's decision, and involves a "threshold issue" reviewable in the appellate court.
DISCUSSION
1. Federal Preemption
Petitioner contends that sections 3351 and 1171.5 have been preempted by the employment provisions of the IRCA (8 U.S.C. § 1324a).
Section 3351, subdivision (a), defines "employee" as "every person in the service of an employer under any appointment or contract of hire or apprenticeship, express or implied, oral or written, whether lawfully or unlawfully employed . . ." including aliens. Section 1171.5 reads, in relevant part:
"The Legislature finds and declares the following: "(a) All protections, rights, and remedies available under state law, except any reinstatement remedy prohibited by federal law, are available to all individuals regardless of immigration status who have applied for employment, or who are or who have been employed, in this state.
"(b) For purposes of enforcing state labor and employment laws, a person's immigration status is irrelevant to the issue of liability, and in proceedings or discovery undertaken to enforce those state laws no inquiry shall be permitted into a person's immigration status except where the person seeking to make this inquiry has shown by clear and convincing evidence that the inquiry is necessary in order to comply with federal immigration law. "(c) The provisions of this section are declaratory of existing law. . . ."
Under the IRCA, it is unlawful to hire or continue to employ an alien the employer knows to be an "unauthorized alien," defined as one who is not lawfully admitted for permanent residence, or authorized to be so employed by federal immigration and nationality law or by the United States Attorney General. (8 U.S.C. § 1324a(a)(1)-(2), (h)(1).) The statute provides for graduated civil penalties for violations, and criminal penaltie
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