[Congressional Bills 104th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1715 Introduced in House (IH)]







104th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 1715

Respecting the relationship between workers' compensation benefits and 
  the benefits available under the Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural 
                         Worker Protection Act.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              May 25, 1995

Mr. Goodling (for himself, Mr. Fazio of California, Mr. Ballenger, Mr. 
  Andrews, Mr. Fawell, Mr. Stenholm, Mr. Hoekstra, Mrs. Thurman, Mr. 
 Funderburk, and Mr. Dooley) introduced the following bill; which was 
  referred to the Committee on Economic and Educational Opportunities

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
Respecting the relationship between workers' compensation benefits and 
  the benefits available under the Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural 
                         Worker Protection Act.
    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. FINDINGS.

    The Congress finds that--
            (1) the fundamental premise of the workers' compensation 
        system, which is the exclusivity of workers' compensation for 
        workplace injuries as an alternative to a fault-based system 
        relying on costly and lengthy litigation in the courts, must be 
        preserved,
            (2) this premise was threatened by the decision in 1990 of 
        the United States Supreme Court in Adams Fruit Co. Inc. v. 
        Barrett, 494 U.S. 638, which held that migrant and seasonal 
        farmworkers could bring a private right of action for certain 
        job-related injuries under the Migrant and Seasonal 
        Agricultural Worker Protection Act even where the employer has 
        provided workers' compensation coverage of such farmworkers,
            (3) the Adams Fruit decision did not reflect the intent of 
        the Congress when it enacted the Migrant and Seasonal 
        Agricultural Worker Protection Act in 1982,
            (4) the Adams Fruit decision singles out agricultural 
        employers as the only employers in America who can be subjected 
        to lawsuits as a result of workplace injuries even where they 
        have provided workers' compensation to their employees,
            (5) Congress expressed its disapproval of the Adams Fruit 
        decision in Public Law 102-392 by overturning the decision 
        until July 6, 1993, and
            (6) it is essential that the exclusivity of workers' 
        compensation be permanently restored.

SEC. 2. WORKERS' COMPENSATION.

    (a) Amendment.--Section 504 of the Migrant and Seasonal 
Agricultural Worker Protection Act (29 U.S.C. 1854) is amended by 
adding at the end thereof the following new subsection:
    ``(d)(1) Notwithstanding any other provision of this Act, where a 
State workers' compensation law is applicable and coverage is provided 
for a migrant or seasonal agricultural worker, the workers' 
compensation benefits shall be the exclusive remedy for loss of such 
worker under this Act in the case of bodily injury or death.
    ``(2) The exclusive remedy prescribed by paragraph (1) precludes 
the recovery under subsection (c) of actual damages for loss from an 
injury or death but does not preclude recovery under subsection (c) for 
statutory damages or an injunction.''.
    (b) Effective Date.--The amendment made by subsection (a) shall 
apply to all cases in which a final judgment has not been entered.
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