The state Supreme Court has ruled that a worker from Ecuador, who invoked the Fifth Amendment when asked about his citizenship in a workers’ compensation case, did not prove by remaining silent that he was an undocumented worker.
In the case of Cruz v. Workers’ Compensation Appeal Board, the justices upheld a Commonwealth Court ruling that David Cruz’s employer could not halt his benefits because the company did not provide any evidence as to Cruz’s citizenship status. Before the case was appealed, a workers’ compensation judge sided with Cruz’s employer, suspending his benefits.
