Supreme Court Concludes That Undocumented Workers Are Entitled to Workers' Compensation Benefits
In Staff Management v. Jiminez , 839 NW2d 640 (Iowa 2013), the Iowa Supreme Court addressed an issue that they had elliptically addressed in the past - the right of undocumented workers to receive workers' compensation benefits. The court concluded that Iowa's statute did not exclude undocumented workers from coverage and also found that the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 (IRCA) did not act to preempt state laws governing workers' compensation. Three amicus curiae briefs were filed in Jimenez by the Workers' Injury Law and Advocacy Group, the Iowa Association of Justice's Workers' Compensation Core Group and the National Employment Law Project. Jamie Byrne of Neifert, Byrne and Ozga wrote the amicus brief for the Core Group. The factual situation in Jimenez involved a worker who was documented at the time she began employment, but who became undocumented during the time that she worked for the employer. She was injured at work, and...