The Michigan Supreme Court will hear arguments this week on a key procedural question that could decide whether an immigrant rights case goes to trial. It could also affect future civil rights challenges to state laws.
The Michigan Immigrant Rights Center is challenging a Michigan Court of Appeals decision from last year that dismissed its case because the deadline to file had passed.
The lawsuit says the state has been improperly denying injured worker benefits to people without legal status.
“If we want work conditions that are dignified, fair and healthy, we must ensure that workers’ compensation system is administered as intended to protect all workers,” said MIRC attorney Anna Hill Galendez.
“The reality is many employers gladly hire workers who don’t have work permits because they can pay them less and get away with more," she said.
Part of MIRC’s case is the not-for-profit law firm must continue to expend resources filing workers compensation lawsuits against the state.
Governor Gretchen Whitmer’s administration argues there was a one-year window to file a lawsuit or a notification that one was on the way and the plaintiffs missed that deadline. It argued in its brief asking the Supreme Court to refuse the case that it was complying with the law.
