CARSON CITY, Nev. (AP) - The Nevada Supreme Court has ruled that workers’ compensation rates for injured inmates are set at inmate pay rates instead of the state’s minimum wage.
Inmate Darrell White was assigned to the Forestry Division when he suffered an finger injury that left him temporarily disabled for 144 days in 2016, the Nevada Appeal reports.
White filed for workers’ compensation disability benefits at the minimum wage set in the state Constitution after his release, but an appeals officer ruled that state law sets the amount of compensation at the average monthly wage the prisoner actually received when the injury occurred, officials said.
White argued his compensation should be set at the constitutionally guaranteed $7.25 an hour.
Court officials argued compensation should be about 50 cents a day or $22.93 each month based on what he was actually being paid.
District court officials upheld their ruling and White appealed.
A panel of justices declined to consider the constitutional argument because the statute requires calculation of compensation based on what the inmate was earning when he was injured.
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