BARAHONA v. TRUSTEES OF COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY IN CITY OF NEW YORK (2006)

Defendants move pursuant to CPLR §§ 3122, 3124 and 3126 to compel production of discovery or preclude plaintiff or strike plaintiff's complaint for failure to comply with their discovery demand.

Plaintiff claims that he was performing construction work on defendants' premises on May 18, 2001.   The complaint alleges that defendants violated Labor Law §§ 200, 240(1) and 241(6) and that plaintiff sustained personal injury as a result thereof.   In the course of discovery, defendants conducted plaintiff's examination before trial on April 22, 2004.   However, plaintiff underwent surgery in January of 2005, which prompted the further deposition of plaintiff and defendants' service of a Notice for Discovery and Inspection.   The discovery notice called for plaintiff to produce a number of authorizations and records, including those pertaining to plaintiff's immigration status, including but not limited to all applications for green card/work permit status and citizenship status;  a duly executed authorization addressed to the Immigration and Naturalization Service, permitting the release of all documents pertaining to the plaintiff's immigration status, including but not limited to all applications for green card/work permit status and citizenship status;  and a duly executed IRS form authorization with photo identification permitting the release of plaintiff's W-2/tax information from 1999-2005.   Defendants did not receive all of the authorizations and records demanded and they now move to compel production of the outstanding items.   On the return date of this motion, counsel for plaintiff agreed to provide all of the outstanding discovery except for authorizations and records pertaining to plaintiff's immigration status.

Defendants contend that they are entitled to all discovery pertaining to plaintiff's immigration status because it directly affects plaintiff's claim for future lost earnings.   At oral argument, defendants relied upon Oro v. 23 East 79th Street Corp., wherein the Appellate Term for the 2nd and 11th Judicial Districts held that an undocumented immigrant is entitled to recover lost wages and that a plaintiff's immigration status is relevant to a determination of such claims.   See Oro v. 23 East 79th Street Corp., 10 Misc.3d 82, 810 N.Y.S.2d 779 (App. Term 2nd and 11th Jud. Dist., 2005).   Therefore, a jury may consider plaintiff's status, “along with the myriad other factors relevant to a calculation of lost earnings, in determining, as a practical matter, whether the plaintiff would have continued working in the United States throughout the relevant period․” Id. quoting Majlinger v. Cassino Contracting Corp., 25 A.D.3d 14, 30, 802 N.Y.S.2d 56 (2d Dept. 2005) affd. sub nom. Balbuena v. IDR Realty LLC, 6 N.Y.3d 338, 812 N.Y.S.2d 416, 845 N.E.2d 1246, 2006 WL 396944 (2006).   Defendants maintain that if a jury may consider plaintiff's immigration status, it follows that the requested records and authorizations are discoverable.

Plaintiff cites Majlinger for the proposition that a worker's undocumented status is not a basis for denying that worker's past or future lost earnings.   See Majlinger v. Cassino Contracting Corp., supra.   Plaintiff maintains that defendants are not entitled to said discovery because plaintiff's immigration status has no relevance to any of the issues in this case.   Plaintiff argues that the Oro case cited by defendants is not binding upon this Court and that defendants are simply looking to go on a fishing expedition with documents containing plaintiff's sensitive and personal information which could potentially be prejudicial to plaintiff.

 Since the time this discovery motion was argued, the New York Court of Appeals has affirmed Majlinger and addressed this very issue.   The issue in Balbuena v. IDR Realty LLC is “whether an undocumented alien injured at a work site as a result of state Labor Law violations is precluded from recovering lost wages due to immigration status.”  Balbuena v. IDR Realty LLC, supra.   The Court of Appeals held that an undocumented alien should not be precluded from recovering lost wages, including future lost wages.   See Id.   See also Mazur v. Rock-McGraw, Inc., 246 A.D.2d 515, 666 N.Y.S.2d 939 (2d Dept. 1998).   However, in considering what amount to award a plaintiff for future lost earnings, a jury may “consider immigration status as one factor in its determination of the damages, if any, warranted under the Labor Law (citation omitted).”  Balbuena v. IDR Realty LLC, supra.   The Court in Balbuena stated:

[a]n undocumented alien plaintiff could, for example, introduce proof that he had subsequently received or was in the process of obtaining the authorization documents required by IRCA [Immigration Reform and Control Act] and, consequently, would likely be authorized to obtain future employment in the United States.   Conversely, a defendant in a Labor Law action could, for example, allege that a future wage award is not appropriate because work authorization has not been sought or approval was sought but denied.   In other words, a jury's analysis of a future wage claim proffered by an undocumented alien is similar to a claim asserted by any other injured person in that the determination must be based on all of the relevant facts and circumstances presented in the case.

 Plaintiff's characterization of the immigration related documents as personal information that could be prejudicial is without merit.   Plaintiff put his immigration status at issue when he sought damages for future lost earnings.   In this case, defendants are clearly entitled to present evidence to a jury concerning the amount of plaintiff's future lost earnings.   In calculating the amount of future lost earnings, a jury may consider the likelihood that plaintiff will remain in this country.   Therefore, plaintiff's immigration status is a relevant fact for a jury to consider and defendants are entitled to all of the requested authorizations and records pertaining to plaintiff's immigration status.

In view of the foregoing, defendants' motion is granted in its entirety.

The foregoing shall constitute the Decision and Order of the Court.

DONALD SCOTT KURTZ, J.