Workers’ Compensation
Ca. Workers' Comp. Quarterly 2014, Vol. 27, No. 3
Vicente Salas v. Sierra Chemical Company: Two Wrongs Make a Right
WILLIAM A. HERRERAS, ESQ.
Arroyo Grande, California
On April 2, 2014, the California Supreme Court heard oral argument in Salas v. Sierra Chemical (79 Cal.Comp.Cases 782). The Court was faced with the conundrum of whether two wrongs make a right.
On June 26, 2014, the Supreme Court ruled on this case in a split decision that has a broad impact regarding the protection of undocumented workers under California’s labor laws. The opinion consisted of 47 pages: a 28-page majority opinion (Chief Justice Cantil-Sakauye, Justices Kennard, Werdegar, Corrigan, and Liu) and a 19-page dissenting opinion (Justices Baxter and Chin).