New Mexico Supreme Court Rules Ag Laborers Qualify For Workers’ Comp

The state Supreme Court has ruled that a nearly 100-year-old provision in state law that allows agricultural employers to opt out of the workers’ compensation system is unconstitutional. In an opinion issued Thursday, the court ruled the provision violated the Equal Protection Clause of the state Constitution. It noted that the provision allowed employers with more than three employees to opt out of coverage for farm and ranch laborers but not other agricultural workers, a distinction the court called "nothing more than arbitrary discrimination."