A recent decision by the Michigan Court of Claims could change the access that undocumented immigrants have to workers’ compensation benefits.
Last November, the Michigan Immigrant Rights Center filed a lawsuit challenging a state policy that says employers and insurance companies are not responsible for providing workers compensation coverage to undocumented workers injured on the job.
The state of Michigan responded by filing a motion to dismiss the lawsuit. But this week, the court moved to deny the motion, allowing the case to proceed. Attorney Diana Marin filed the lawsuit on behalf of the immigrant rights group.
“We have a chance at really making an argument before the court," Marin said. "Why this, this interpretation and what the worker's compensation agency and Michigan has been doing for the past 13 years, is wrong and needs to be reversed and to be corrected.”
The state now has 30 days to appeal the court’s decision.
