If an illegal person living in the US gets injured at work can they sue their employer?

I'm wondering bc a friend of mine needed some help at the construction site hes currently working in and he gave one of this guy( a friend of a friend of his family) a chance to work for him for a few days (paint only the first floor of a building)... the reason my friend gave this guy a chance to work was bc this guy was desperate for work ...my friend told this guy and some other ppl at the construction site to only paint the first floor bc he had hired a professional to paint the top floors...and then my friend had an errand so he had to leave the construction site for a few hrs....wen he came back it turned out the guy someone got to the top floors to paint (im not sure if he used the ladder or something else) but he ended up falling 2-3 floors and landing on concrete....he had a small head injury and appearantly he cant feel his legs (im not I'm clear exactly wat else is wrong w. the guy) ...but now it seems like the guys family and friends are encouraging him to take legal action against my friend, who in turn is worried bc he doesnt doesn't ton of money....so my question is obvious can the other guy really do anything against my friend? legally? can u refer to any specific laws? if it helps this happened in california.... im asking cuz my friends is really stressed about the whole situation and i wana get a gist of how bad the situation legally really is against him to hopefully be of some confort to him. My friend was just trying to be a nice guy (the guy also had told my friend he had exp painting and thats why my friend took him also , but after the incident i doubt he had much) ...

my friend didnt know he was illegal ( the guys a friend of an olf family friend) and the job was just for 1-2 days ...

In CA you do not need to be a citizen to file suit in state court. Generally, the only remedy an injured worker has is to file a worker's compensation claim, unless the injured guy can prove that the accident happened outside of the work context. Your friend should discuss the matter with an attorney.

Your friend could get in trouble with USCIS for hiring Illegal workers, which is a crime with a heavy fine, and the workers, once they are found to be Illegal, deported. I don't know how the court case would go, though. If he was explicit about painting just the bottom floor, they could lose by not following his instructions. On the other hand, there should have been a supervisor there to watch that these employees weren't doing things they shouldn't.

Sorry to be so negative, but how come he didn't KNOW he was illegal!??? Did he have papers when he came over the border? Or! walk across at a point where there is no immigration exit and entry!? Being illegal, and accepting a job in the USA, there is NO recourse to sue anybody! I am sorry he got hurt, but he took that chance and lost!! Who do you suppose is going to pay the doctor's bills? I don't think it's fair for an illegal to expect the American Tax payers to foot the bill! If you do take this further, you are putting the guy who gave him the job in jeopardy!! AND the injured person WILL be sent back to whereever! This is the chamce illegals take when they sneak over the border! This is a no win situation!

Well first of all tell your friend to not get tired of doing the right thing. Second according to the new Homeland security laws, any one that is illegal in the U.S. has no major rights as far as pursuing a lawsuit against a citizen. No legal documents to work means no real rights to be here. Unfortunately this man fell and got hurt, the right thing to do is to offer some medical attention but I would advise your friend not to worry.

Keep doing the right thing.