July 7, 2007 SPECIAL REPORT: Immigrant job safety
RESTON, Va. - Jose Maria Martinez's knee hurt so badly he could barely walk, but he put his head down and kept working. He made $11.50 an hour, far more than he could earn back in El Salvador, and sent half to his wife and five children at home. When he fell and slammed his knee on the job in Northern Virginia last summer, the pain was terrible. His manager immediately ordered him back to work, just minutes after the accident. Fearful of losing his job - or worse, of deportation - he fought through the pain and complied. "I came to the United States for my kids' future...I had to keep working," he said through a translator. The growing army of Latino immigrants that builds our homes, picks our vegetables and fuels our service economy faces far more dangerous working conditions than native-born Americans, government safety officials say, and the problem is worsening. As Martinez soon learned, documented and undocumented workers often have a harder time obtaining adequate medical care or compensation for on-the-job injuries -- even when the law grants them the same treatment as citizens. WORKPLACE DANGER During the decade, though, the number of Hispanic immigrants killed on the job almost doubled, from 342 to 625. In 2005, of every 100,000 Hispanic workers, 4.9 were killed on the job. Most of them were immigrants. For the population as a whole, four out of every 100,000 workers were killed that year. Immigrant advocates contend that some unscrupulous employers increase the problem by regarding their workers as easily replaceable cogs. "Some employers take the attitude that these folks aren't human," said James Hadstate, an attorney who works with immigrants at South Carolina Legal Services. "Once you dehumanize someone, you can treat them like a cow or a horse." Some immigrants, particularly the undocumented, are afraid to speak up against unsafe conditions for fear of losing their jobs or being deported, said Lori Elmer, an attorney for Legal Aid of North Carolina who works with migrant farm workers. Often, the employer provides the only transportation, effectively controlling access to medical facilities, she said. She said she has seen cases where injured migrant workers are dropped off at the bus station and told to return to their home country.
At a resort construction site where he was doing stucco work, a scaffolding rig collapsed on him last summer, injuring his back. Jose asked to go to the hospital, but his employer, a small contractor, told him if he went, "I want nothing to do with it." "I worked for him, so I felt he was responsible for my accident," Jose said in Spanish, as translated by his attorney, David Canty. At the end of the day, he was fired, he said. When he returned to the hospital the following week, he said, the hospital declined to treat him after his employer refused to pay. A few days later, he hired Canty and filed a workers' compensation claim that remains unresolved. Neither the employer nor his attorney responded to requests for comment. As Jose's case illustrates, Hispanic immigrants often face more obstacles in getting medical care than native-born citizens. "Imagine trying to navigate the American medical system in a language you don't understand," said Tim Freilich of the Virginia Justice Center, which helps immigrant workers. That was Jose Vidales' predicament. In January 2005, Vidales, who came to the country as a teenager, was working in the woodshop on a farm owned by Dr. Pickens Moyd, a surgeon in Hartsville, S.C. Vidales was using a table saw to cut metal sheets for a windmill when the rotating blade sliced open his left palm and through two fingers and a thumb. Dr. Moyd came to the hospital and helped amputate two of Vidales' fingers after the doctors determined they could not be saved. Vidales has filed a lawsuit charging his former boss, other doctors and nurses who treated him, and the hospital with medical malpractice and negligence. He argues that his fingers could have been saved. Dr. Moyd, along with other defendants in the lawsuit, argue that Vidales received appropriate medical treatment. No one fully explained his options in Spanish, Vidales argued. The case has not been settled, and attorneys for both sides declined to comment specifically on the case or on Vidales' legal status.
Still, many immigrants never get workers' compensation even in cases where they are entitled. Some are unfamiliar with their legal rights. Others have trouble finding a Spanish-speaking attorney. Others fear that asking for compensation will attract the attention of immigration officials. "Some employers won't hesitate to tell a worker, 'Shut up, don't file a claim or you're going to be on the bus back to Mexico'," Canty said. If they do fight for workers' compensation payments, some immigrants find a larger legal battle than they imagine. LIKE A KNIFE After his accident in June 2006, the pain was so intense he went entire nights without sleeping. He didn't have the means to go to a doctor and was afraid to ask his bosses for help, he said. He used over-the-counter medication sent by his family in El Salvador. He dealt with the pain for two months. Then, he slipped on a puddle while mixing concrete and landed on the same knee. "It felt like a knife was stabbed into it," he said. A co-worker told him to talk to his bosses, so he did. They sent him to the emergency room. An MRI found severely torn cartilage in his knee. He had an operation and physical therapy, paid by workers' compensation. Eventually, the doctors cleared him to work again with his old employer. He was still in a lot of pain, though, and had trouble standing for long periods. In May, 11 months after the original accident, he said his employer fired him, saying he couldn't be responsible for Martinez' pain. His employer did not return phone calls seeking comment. He made another run at getting workers' compensation, but several attorneys were unable to help. At one point, Martinez, who speaks almost no English, showed up at a hearing for his workers' compensation case trying to represent himself. The commissioner rescheduled the hearing. With a new attorney, he hopes to get a permanent workers' compensation settlement. CRACKDOWN "When you have people who are here illegally, it's breaking down the whole system," said Virginia Del. Kathy Byron, R-Lynchburg, "There needs to be a better check on businesses hiring illegal workers before they get injured." |