Can I Be Fired While Injured with Workers’ Compensation?

Last Updat­ed on June 19, 2023 

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Workers’ Compensation Rights and Job Security

Can I Be Fired While Injured with Workers’ Compensation?

No, you can­not be fired while injured and receiv­ing work­ers’ com­pen­sa­tion ben­e­fits. This is because it would be con­sid­ered retal­i­a­tion, which is ille­gal. Retal­i­a­tion occurs when an employ­er takes adverse action against an employ­ee for exer­cis­ing a pro­tect­ed right, such as fil­ing a work­ers’ com­pen­sa­tion claim.

What to Do If You Are Fired While Injured and Receiving Workers’ Compensation Benefits

If you are fired while injured and receiv­ing work­ers’ com­pen­sa­tion ben­e­fits, you should con­tact an attor­ney to dis­cuss your legal options. You may be able to file a law­suit against your employ­er for wrong­ful ter­mi­na­tion.

How to Protect Yourself from Retaliation After Filing a Workers’ Compensation Claim

Here are some things to keep in mind if you are injured on the job:
Report the injury to your super­vi­sor imme­di­ate­ly.
See a work­er’s com­pen­sa­tion doc­tor and get a med­ical report.
File a work­ers’ com­pen­sa­tion claim.
Keep a record of all com­mu­ni­ca­tions with your employ­er about the injury.
Do not sign any­thing with­out first con­sult­ing with an attor­ney.
If you have any ques­tions about your rights under work­ers’ com­pen­sa­tion, you should con­tact a Work­ers’ Comp Lawyer.

But, your employer can fire you for many other reasons while you are drawing benefits from workers compensation.

Your employ­er can fire you for many oth­er rea­sons while you are draw­ing ben­e­fits from work­ers com­pen­sa­tion, as long as the rea­son is not relat­ed to your injury or your work­ers com­pen­sa­tion claim. For exam­ple, your employ­er could fire you for poor per­for­mance, mis­con­duct, or because the com­pa­ny is downsizing.

How­ev­er, if your employ­er fires you for a rea­son that is relat­ed to your injury or your work­ers com­pen­sa­tion claim, then you may have a case for wrong­ful ter­mi­na­tion. In order to prove wrong­ful ter­mi­na­tion, you would need to show that your employ­er’s rea­son for fir­ing you was a pre­text for retal­i­a­tion. This means that you would need to show that your employ­er would not have fired you if you had not filed a work­ers com­pen­sa­tion claim.

If you believe that you have been wrong­ful­ly ter­mi­nat­ed, you should con­tact an attor­ney to dis­cuss your legal options. You may be able to file a law­suit against your employ­er and recov­er dam­ages, such as back pay, lost wages, and emo­tion­al distress.

Here are some of the rea­sons why your employ­er might fire you while you are on work­ers compensation:

• Poor per­for­mance: If you are con­sis­tent­ly per­form­ing poor­ly at your job, your employ­er may fire you, even if you are on work­ers compensation.
• Mis­con­duct: If you engage in any type of mis­con­duct, such as theft, vio­lence, or harass­ment, your employ­er may fire you, even if you are on work­ers compensation.
• Down­siz­ing: If your com­pa­ny is down­siz­ing and your posi­tion is elim­i­nat­ed, your employ­er may fire you, even if you are on work­ers compensation.
• Job aban­don­ment: If you miss work for an extend­ed peri­od of time with­out pro­vid­ing a valid rea­son, your employ­er may fire you, even if you are on work­ers compensation.

Workers’ Compensation Protects You from Retaliation

To under­stand and pro­tect your rights, you need to talk with a lawyer who can give you legal advice based on your par­tic­u­lar cir­cum­stances. If you are a vic­tim of retal­i­a­tion due to injury, you must seek legal help.

Work­ers’ com­pen­sa­tion laws in most states pro­tect employ­ees from retal­i­a­tion for fil­ing a work­ers’ com­pen­sa­tion claim. Retal­i­a­tion can take many forms, including:

• Fir­ing or lay­ing off the employee
• Demot­ing the employee
• Deny­ing the employ­ee over­time or promotion
• Dis­ci­plin­ing the employee
• Deny­ing the employ­ee benefits
• Fail­ing to hire or rehire the employee
• Intim­i­dat­ing the employee
• Reas­sign­ing the employ­ee to a less desir­able position
• Reduc­ing the employ­ee’s pay or hours

If you believe that you have been retal­i­at­ed against for fil­ing a work­ers’ com­pen­sa­tion claim, you should con­tact a Work­ers’ Com­pen­sa­tion Attor­ney. You may be enti­tled to com­pen­sa­tion for your lost wages, med­ical expens­es, and pain and suffering.

How Can You Protect Yourself from Employer Retaliation? 

Here are some tips for pro­tect­ing your­self from retal­i­a­tion:
1. Keep a record of all com­mu­ni­ca­tions with your employ­er, includ­ing emails, let­ters, and phone calls.
2. If you are threat­ened or harassed, report it to your super­vi­sor or human resources depart­ment.
3. If you are fired or demot­ed, file a com­plaint with your state’s work­ers’ com­pen­sa­tion agency.
4. Con­tact an attor­ney to dis­cuss your legal options.

It is impor­tant to remem­ber that you have rights under work­ers’ com­pen­sa­tion law. If you have been injured at work, you should file a claim and seek the ben­e­fits that you are enti­tled to. You should also be aware of the poten­tial for retal­i­a­tion and take steps to pro­tect yourself.

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