Franceschi-Rodriguez v. Perdue Foods, LLC

Summary

The Delaware Superior Court reverses, without prejudice, an Industrial Accident Board decision concerning the termination of Luis Franceschi-Rodriguez’s temporary total disability benefits. The court holds that the record established prima facie displaced-worker status based on his injury-related sedentary restrictions, Spanish-language barrier, and lack of transferable skills in the Delaware labor market. The court further concludes that the employer’s labor-market survey did not identify suitable employment within his restrictions.

Holdings

1. A language barrier alone is insufficient to establish that an employee is prima facie displaced, but it is a relevant factor that must be considered together with the employee's physical injury, age, education, background, occupational experience, and the availability of suitable work.
2. Franceschi-Rodriguez established prima facie displacement by proving that he was effectively an unskilled general laborer who could no longer perform general labor because of his compensable injury.
3. The Board's conclusion that Franceschi-Rodriguez was not prima facie displaced was not supported by substantial evidence and had to be reversed.
4. Perdue failed to establish available employment opportunities and earning capacity within Franceschi-Rodriguez's actual physical, language, and vocational restrictions.

Questions Presented

1. Whether the Industrial Accident Board erred in finding that Franceschi-Rodriguez was not a prima facie displaced worker.
2. Whether substantial evidence supported the Board's determination that Franceschi-Rodriguez's education and prior work experience made him employable outside general labor despite his physical restrictions and English-language barrier.
3. Whether Perdue established available employment opportunities and earning capacity within Franceschi-Rodriguez's actual physical and vocational restrictions.

Disposition

reversed