Here’s an update on a case we recently blogged. Edgar Velasquez worked for Billy G’s Tree Service in Rhode Island. He sliced open his face with a chain saw (ouch!). When he tried to file for workers comp benefits, his employer fired him. Edgar was an undocumented worker. The employer did not carry workers comp insurance.
On August 2, 2006, Edgar went to the Garrahy Courthouse in Providence for a hearing on his comp claim. He was met outside by immigration agents, accompanied by Billy Gorman, his former boss. As he watched the agents take Edgar away, Gorman was heard to say “Adios, Edgar.” Edgar was deported to Mexico later that month. (Gee, I wonder who dropped a dime…)
Edgar, who lives in a remote mountain village in the state of Chiapas, has not received any further medical treatment for his injury. The scar on his face is still infected. Ho, Hum. Another immigrant worker screwed by an unscrupulous employer. End of story? Not quite.
Billy Gorman has a few legal problems of his own. He is being sued by the state for running a business without the requisite workers comp insurance. And Rhode Islanders, who recognize a serious injustice when they see it, are raising money to return Edgar to this country – so he can pursue his comp claim, among other possible legal remedies against Gorman.
Ah, but how will Edgar get back into the country, when he was here illegally at the time of the injury? Germann Murguia, the Mexican consul general in Boston, says they are trying to bring Edgar back through a humanitarian visa. “This is up to the American authorities, but we are trying to do as much as possible. He deserves compensation.”
I wonder if Billy has a call into his congressman, expressing his moral outrage that Edgar might be allowed back in. “He never should have been here in the first place!”
Gorman’s lawyer, Michael St. Pierre, reports that Gorman has no assets to satisfy the claim, which exceeds $70,000 in medical bills alone. St. Pierre also says that Edgar may not have met the definition of “employee.” I guess he must have been an independent contractor.
Here’s hoping that Edgar finds his way back to America for a brief and legal visit. He needs some medical attention for his injury. And he deserves the opportunity to watch them put the cuffs on his former boss and to say, with all due sincerity, “Adios, Billy.”
