Document Type
Article
Publication Date
2017
Journal
Chicago-Kent Law Review
Volume
92
Issue
3
Abstract
Government data consistently affirm that foreign-born workers in the U.S. experience high rates of on-the-job illness and injury. This article explores whether—and under what circumstances—these occupational harms suffered by immigrant workers constitute a dignity taking. The article argues that some injuries suffered by foreign-born workers are indirect takings by the state due to the government’s lackluster oversight and limited penalties for violations of occupational safety and health laws. Using a framework of the body as property, the article then explores when work-related injury constitutes an infringement upon a property right. The article contends that the government’s weak enforcement apparatus, coupled with state-sanctioned hostility towards immigrants, creates an environment where immigrant workers are deemed to be sub-persons, and where employer impunity abounds. Drawing upon data gleaned from a research study of immigrant day laborers in northern Virginia, the article describes a range of practices by employers in cases of workplace accidents, noting the circumstances that are indicative of dehumanization, and thus, dignity takings.
Recommended Citation
Rathod, Jayesh and Nadas, Rachel, "Damaged Bodies, Damaged Lives: Immigrant Worker Injuries as Dignity Takings" (2017). Articles in Law Reviews & Other Academic Journals. 1067.
https://digitalcommons.wcl.american.edu/facsch_lawrev/1067
Included in
Immigration Law Commons, Labor and Employment Law Commons, Workers' Compensation Law Commons