Several WhatsApp messages reveal that young Diego Jesús Méndez has been employed by a businessman from Alicante, Enrique C., who was arrested months ago following a work-related accident. The incident left Diego in a wheelchair at just 22 years old.
The police arrested the employer after Diego disclosed he had been working without a contract and fell while installing an air conditioner. The accident was masked as a home mishap by the supposed boss.
Diego fell from a ladder about three meters high when it collapsed on May 16 during the installation. The fall caused a severe vertebral fracture with spinal cord involvement, leaving him largely paralyzed from the waist down and suffering neuropathic pain, along with urinary and fecal incontinence. He underwent emergency surgery in Alicante, and the healthcare costs exceeded 11,000 euros. He was later moved to the Paraplegic Hospital in Toledo, where he has remained since late June.
Diego and the bad boss
The Spanish-born businessman, arrested along with his partner, a woman of Colombian origin, faces charges of endangering workers’ safety and causing serious injuries with evident indifference. Police investigations uncovered two WhatsApp groups, one Venezuelan and one Colombian, used to recruit workers by exploiting their legal vulnerabilities. In one message, the employer wrote that he was seeking an assistant with air conditioning installation experience who was energetic, agile, and proactive, with part-time or full-time availability depending on the task, offering daily or weekly pay without any formal contract. Source: EFE.
Although the arrested individual has not yet testified, media questions persist. He denied that Diego worked for him and claimed the young man would try to find new work. Messages between Diego and his employer have already been incorporated into the investigation.
Diego and his friend Felipe, who traveled from Venezuela to Alicante seeking opportunity and who had remained by his side since the day of the accident, have already been summoned to testify. The opening of the trial is pending; the businessman and his partner are under investigation. The person responsible for the workshop where the accident happened is also called as a witness. Source: EFE.
Arrested for trying to hide the work accident of an unregistered employee in Alicante
According to Diego’s statements to the police, he was alone in the mechanical workshop when the accident happened. He shouted for help as his legs failed to respond. He recalls the boss offering a menthol massage to his back and urging him to stand, then carrying him to the car herself. The effort to move him appeared insufficient and possibly dangerous, sometimes delaying proper medical assistance for a work-related injury. Source: EFE.
The business owner claimed the incident occurred while moving a television into his room to obtain a passport, avoiding immigration issues due to missing documents. Diego, later taken to a Toledo hospital, entrusted his care to a hospital staff member and has not been contacted regarding his case since. Source: EFE.