Noe Escamilla v. Shiel Sexton Company, Inc.

54 N.E.3d 1013, 2016 Ind. App. LEXIS 94, 2016 WL 1255330
CourtIndiana Court of Appeals
DecidedMarch 31, 2016
Docket54A01-1506-CT-602
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 54 N.E.3d 1013 (Noe Escamilla v. Shiel Sexton Company, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Indiana Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Noe Escamilla v. Shiel Sexton Company, Inc., 54 N.E.3d 1013, 2016 Ind. App. LEXIS 94, 2016 WL 1255330 (Ind. Ct. App. 2016).

Opinions

MAY, Judge.

[1] In this interlocutory appeal from the trial court’s pre-trial orders regarding the admissibility of evidence, the parties raise a number of broad policy questions regarding whether and how an injured plaintiffs status as an undocumented immigrant should impact that plaintiff’s ability to recover future lost wages from an alleged tortfeasor. We decline their invitations to make sweeping pronouncements about the rights of immigrants, however, and rule narrowly on the evidentiary issues raised. Although we disagree with part of the trial court’s reasoning, we affirm its denial of Noe Escamilla’s motion in limine and its grant of Shiel Sexton’s motion to exclude Escamilla’s experts, and we remand for further proceedings in accordance with our opinion.1

Facts and Procedural History

[2] Escamilla was born fin. Mexico. When he was a teenager, his parents moved the family, including Escamilla, to the United States. Escamilla lived with his family in Nevada and began working as a masonry laborer. At some point thereafter, he moved to Indiana, where he again found work with masonry companies. Es-camilla had a social security number that he used to pay taxes' on his income, but that number was not connected to him. He was, at that time, an undocumented immigrant working.in the United States.2

[1016]*1016[3] In December of 2010, Noe Escamil-la, an employee of Masonry By Mohler, Inc,, was assigned to work at a construction site where Shiel Sexton Company, Inc. was the general contractor. On December 9, while part of a crew lifting a heavy piece of stone, Escamilla slipped on ice and was injured. Doctors permanently restricted Escamilla from lifting more than twenty pounds,, which prevents his continued employment as a masonry laborer.

[4] Escamilla sued Shiel Sexton, seeking medical expenses, lost wages, and future lost income. He planned to call expert witnesses to testify his injuries had permanently -impaired his earning capacity as a masonry laborer in the United States. Escamilla then filed a motion in limine to prevent mention of his immigration status. Shiel Sexton moved to exclude the expert witnesses Escamilla planned to call because those experts would testify only about the income Escamilla could have made in the United States as a masonry laborer. Shiel Sexton asserted testimony about Escamilla’s earning capacity should be limited to the income he could earn in Mexico, which is. his country of origin, because Escamilla had.no legal.right to reside or work in the United States at the time of his accident.

[5] The trial court denied Escamilla’s motion in limine and granted Shiel Sexton’s motion:

Escamilla is a citizen of Mexico. He is not a legal resident of the United States and has no legal authority to hold employment in the U.S. Though there is evidence that suggests that he intends to remain in the U.S. as long as he is permitted, even his own witness concedes that he may be permitted to remain in the country after his pending application is approved.3 Additionally, he has not even filed a formal request for permission to work in the United States. Thus, he would be precluded from mitigating his claim for lost future wages in this matter since he cannot legally work in the United States. Moreover, it is evident that Escamilla violated federal law in order to secure employment with the Company by providing false documentation of his ability to be legally employed in the United States. • •
Both parties concede that there is no controlling Indiana law on-point. The Court, having reviewed the law cited by the parties and other relevant cases, finds that the Supreme' Court of the United States provided the best guidance in Hoffman Plastic Compounds, Inc. v. National Labor Relations Board, 535 U.S. 137 [122 S.Ct. 1275, 152 L.Ed.2d 271] (2002). In Hoffman, the employee was an illegal alien who had provided false documentation in support of his application for employment with Hoffman. Thereafter, the employee was terminated for engaging in union organization practices and the National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB”) ordered his reinstatement and the payment of back wages. The Supreme Court reversed that decision, based on federal preemption and public policy.
Though the issues are not exactly the same, the analogy is instructive. Much of the Hoffman decision is based on the [1017]*1017fact that the employee had provided false documentation of his ability to work in- the United States, which is criminalized by IRCA, the Immigration Reform and Control Act. The court determined that an employee who was “never lawfully entitled to be present or employed in the United States” is not entitled to claim back pay. 535 U.S. at 146 [122 S.Ct. 1275], Further, allowing the payment of back wages “not only trivializes the immigration laws, it also condones and encourages future violations.” Id. at 150 [122 S.Ct. 1275]. The cases relied upon by Escamilla are distinguishable wherein there was no allegation that the employee had provided false documentation óf his ability to be present or to be employed in the United States. Such is not the case here. Clearly, Escamilla’s immigration status is relevant to the issue of damages on his claim for lost future income. Therefore, the jury should be entitled to hear evidence regarding Escamilla’s immigration status and his motion in limine should be and hereby is DENIED. Company next argues that Escamilla should be precluded from presenting evidence by his proffered experts, Sara Ford and Ronald Missun. Based upon the Wielgus case, cited by both parties, Escamilla’s ability to recover for lost future wages is limited to “what he could legitimately earn in his country of lawful residence.” Wielgus v. Ryobi Technologies, Inc., 875 F.Supp.2d 854, 862 (N.D.I11.2012). Thus, Escamilla’s claim for lost future income is limited to what he could legitimately earn in Mexico, his country of lawful residence and any evidence regarding potential future earnings in the United States would be inadmissible.
Sara Ford has apparently not considered what Escamilla’s legitimate eam-ings might be in Mexico. Rather, she has based her projections' on what' he could earn in the United States. However, since he is not legally permitted to work in the U.S., and because he supplied false documentation of his ability to do so, he is precluded from going forward on- a claim for future lost income in the United States. Accordingly, her testimony is not relevant and shall be EXCLUDED.
Likewise, Escamilla seeks to have Ronald Missun testify regarding the present value of the future lost wages based on Sara Ford’s irrelevant calculations of United States earnings. Therefore, his testimony ⅝ also not relevant and shall be EXCLUDED. '

(App. at 200-02) (footnote and emphases in original). The trial court certified that order for interlocutory appeal and we accepted jurisdiction.4

Discussion and Decision .

[6] Escamilla appeals the trial court’s in limine order that: (1) evidence of his immigration status would be admis[1018]

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Related

Noe Escamilla v. Shiel Sexton Company, Inc.
73 N.E.3d 663 (Indiana Supreme Court, 2017)

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Bluebook (online)
54 N.E.3d 1013, 2016 Ind. App. LEXIS 94, 2016 WL 1255330, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/noe-escamilla-v-shiel-sexton-company-inc-indctapp-2016.