Can I be fired by my employer for filing for workers’ compensation benefits?
Technically, no, you cannot be fired for filing a workers’ compensation claim, and there are laws in place that make it illegal. In addition, the laws generally make it illegal for the employer to take any negative actions against you related to your workers’ compensation benefits. However, what the law specifies may not always match actual practice.
The goal of workers’ compensation benefits is to provide an injured worker with income in lieu of their normal pay, as well as additional money to pay for medical expenses because of a work-related injury. As a workers’ compensation injury must be directly related to or caused by one of the responsibilities of your job, then in theory you would not have been injured if it were not for your job. Therefore, you are within your rights to file a workers’ compensation claim to obtain the benefits offered.
But being injured and filing a workers’ compensation claim can hurt your employer in two ways. First, the employer will be without your skills for whatever length of time you are recovering and unable to work. Second, the workers’ compensation claim can have a negative impact on the amount the employer pays for workers’ compensating insurance. Therefore, it is reasonable for people to wonder if they can be fired for filing for workers’ compensation benefits. And in fact, if someone files a workers’ compensation claim, it can be the final straw that leads an employer to fire that person.
Even though it is illegal for an employer to fire someone for filing for workers’ compensation benefits, it can still happen. If an employer wants to fire you because you filed a workers’ compensation claim, the employer can begin to document various issues in order to build a case for firing you. These issues might be ones that would otherwise be non-issues with your employer, such as conducting a small amount of personal business at work, or for issues that are difficult to truly measure, such as being accused of performing your job responsibilities too slowly.
Once enough other issues are documented and the employer believes they have a plausible alternate reason, you can then be fired for what may have truly been the workers’ compensation claim. If this happens to you, it can be difficult to prove that the firing occurred as a direct result of you filing the workers’ compensation claim, as opposed to the other reasons the employer may have documented.
If I believe I may have been fired as a result of filing a workers’ compensation claim, how can I get help from an attorney?
If you complete the short for below, a work comp attorney will review your information and provide an initial consultation on your work comp case free of charge. This review is completely confidential from your employer and does not obligate you to anything further.
A workers comp lawyer will know the specific workers’ compensation laws in your state, as well as the protection the law provides you against being fired or other retaliation from your employer. The work lawyer attorney will be able to help you determine if you have been wrongfully terminated, if you have a case against your former employer, and how to go about filing a complaint with the Department of Labor of your state, as well as taking other steps to address your loss. Therefore, please complete the form to get help with your workers’ compensation issue today.
