Opinion ID: 72032
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The administrative trial

Text: Proceeding pro se before the ALJ, Rodriguez testified that he had first come to the United States illegally in 1990 and had used a false Social Security number to obtain a series of jobs, working first as a bartender and then as a forklift operator in Texas before moving to Louisiana in 1998. In Louisiana, Rodriguez worked for several different employers in the marine industry before beginning to work as a pipefitter for Bollinger in March 2003. According to Rodriguez, he was welding an inclined wall of a ship on the night of his accident when he fell and landed on his back. Rodriguez testified that he lay on the ground for approximately 10 to 15 minutes before he was able to stand up and report the incident to a supervisor. According to Rodriguez, his immediate supervisor instructed him to go home that night and report back the following day for medical treatment, explaining that it would cost Bollinger significantly more to have him treated that evening. Rodriguez further testified that the following day Tim Hargrove, Bollinger's safety man, filled out an accident report and directed Rodriguez to seek medical treatment from Dr. Tate. That physician recommended that Rodriguez be reassigned to light-duty work in the tool room. Rodriguez worked light duty for less than a month, however, eventually stopping because his back had worsened progressively to the point that he could no longer work in any capacity. Rodriguez provided the ALJ with reports from several physicians, including Dr. Hamsa, who had diagnosed Rodriguez as being temporarily disabled and unable to perform any work unless he had back surgery, underwent additional open MRI testing, and received various orthopedic supplies, such as a cane and back support. Bollinger called two witnesses: Ray Barker, Bollinger's corporate representative; and Larry Stokes, Bollinger's vocational rehabilitation expert. Barker testified about Bollinger's company practices to safeguard against hiring undocumented workers. According to Barker, the company required prospective employees to submit a valid driver's license and a Social Security number. [1] Barker stated that Bollinger's primary method of verifying an employee's eligibility to work in this country was to send the employee's Social Security number to the IRS at the end of the year and then wait to see if the IRS returned a report indicating that the number was invalid. As Rodriguez had only worked for Bollinger from March to November, however, Bollinger had not submitted his Social Security number to the IRS prior to his injury. Barker was unable to confirm whether Bollinger had attempted to verify Rodriguez's legal status by any other means, as the company's personnel records had been destroyed during Hurricane Katrina. Stokes testified regarding his vocational report on Rodriguez's earning capacity and job skills. Stokes noted that his efforts in compiling the report were complicated by Rodriguez's refusal to participate in any vocational rehabilitation counseling. He acknowledged, however, that it was not entirely uncommon for plaintiffs in Rodriguez's position to decline such counseling. Stokes began his analysis by observing that, as a threshold matter, Rodriguez was not employable in the U.S. in any legal capacity because of his status as an undocumented immigrant; and that, as a result, it would have been improper and unethical for him to assist Rodriguez in vocational rehabilitation. Nevertheless, for purposes of comparison, Stokes performed a vocational evaluation of Rodriguez's earning capacity without regard to his legal status, concluding that Rodriguez was capable of performing a variety of light-to-medium-duty jobs that would earn him between $250 and $600 in average weekly salary. Stokes reiterated, however, that even if Rodriguez's injury prevented his performing light-duty work, he had suffered no loss of legal earning capacity, as he had had no legal earning capacity prior to being injured.