WASHINGTON — The front-runner in the Republican primary to become Georgia’s next governor — whose platform calls to make the Peach State “number one in the nation for deporting criminal illegal immigrants” — failed to vet the citizenship status of workers on his own mansion, according to court documents obtained by The Post.
Billionaire health care executive Rick Jackson has been involved in a workers compensation dispute after one of the laborers suffered a fall while “painting the mulch” at his palatial Cumming, Ga., estate in March 2023.
According to a petition filed last month, the Georgia State Board of Workers’ Compensation erred in denying Facundo Ortega’s claim for benefits because it didn’t “consider evidence” that Jackson hired the man without checking his “work authorization.”
The 71-year-old “maintained a long-standing workforce of multiple laborers performing landscaping and property maintenance work for decades, including individuals without work authorization who nonetheless performed continuous employment for the employer,” the March 18 filing by Ortega’s lawyer stated.
In a related deposition, Ortega’s superintendent, Ivan Robolledo, testified that he had never filled out his taxes using a Social Security number — while Robolledo’s lawyer blocked lines of questioning about his client’s immigration status.
Jackson was deposed twice in the dispute — in October 2023 and January 2024 — and denied knowledge that Robolledo could not lawfully work in the US. Both Ortega and Robolledo acknowledged that they were Mexican nationals in court records.
“Do you recall that during his deposition, he [Robolledo] testified that he was undocumented, didn’t have a Social Security number or work permit?” a lawyer asked the Jackson Healthcare founder and CEO during the 2024 sitdown.
“I wasn’t there when he testified in his deposition,” Jackson responded.
“Did you know that he was undocumented?” the lawyer also asked.
“No,” said Jackson, who also admitted that he never vetted “new hires” using mandatory I-9 forms, which ensure employees are eligible to work.
Jackson claimed at other points in the interview that he did not directly hire workers and only engaged with the superintendent who managed the landscapers and maintenance personnel. Robolledo in his deposition said he’s worked as a landscaper for the executive for 18 years.
Ortega brought the workers comp complaint against Jackson Investment Group, LLC, and JIG Real Estate, LLC, which is owned by the former firm. Jackson serves as CEO of both — but was unable to affirm in his depositions who precisely his employees were.
“I know that sounds confusing,” he answered. “But most of our — if we have other employees, we usually hire them through JIG or another entity. I’m talking about if JIG has employees, we hire them through another entity. I’m not sure that we have any direct employees, from a payroll standpoint, out of JIG Real Estate.”
However, Ortega was paid more than $31,000 by JIG Real Estate, LLC, between May 2022 and April 2023, according to copies of nearly two dozen checks reviewed by The Post.
Jackson made a splash earlier this month with an ad blitz vowing that “criminal illegals” will “end up deported or departed” under his leadership.
“I don’t care if you’re a Muslim or a Mongolian, you don’t have the right to force your culture on our country,” the candidate stated.
“Too often, criminal illegals commit sick, violent crimes, victimize our children and get away with murder. So here’s my guarantee to them: Do that when I’m governor, and you’ll end up deported or departed. Any questions?”
The workers comp appeal will beheard in Forsyth County Superior Court May 14, five days before the Georgia primary.
Jackson has acknowledged a nearly $1 billion net worth in financial disclosures — though his campaign says it amounts to more than $3 billion, the Atlanta-Journal Constitution first reported.
An InsiderAdvantage poll taken earlier this month found Jackson (32%) with a clear lead in a crowded GOP field that includes President Trump-endorsed Lt. Gov. Burt Jones (25%), Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger (11%), and state Attorney General Chris Carr (6%).
Nearly one-quarter of respondents (23%) said they were undecided about whom they would back.
The InsiderAdvantage poll surveyed 800 likely Republican primary voters April 22-23, with a margin of error of plus-or-minus 3.5 percentage points.
Reps for Jackson’s campaign did not respond to a request for comment. Neither did an attorney listed for him on the workers compensation case.
