If you’ve been injured at work, workers’ compensation can be a critical financial lifeline until you can get back on your feet. These benefits pay your medical bills and even a portion of your wages to help ease the financial burden of your injuries. But what happens if, for whatever reason, your employer is upset that you’ve filed for workers’ comp benefits and begins to treat you differently? Or your employer demotes or fires you? Filing for workers’ compensation is a protected right, and your employer’s behavior may be considered unlawful retaliation. If you’re facing employer retaliation for filing for workers’ comp benefits, let the Allentown workers’ compensation lawyers at Saffren & Weinberg help.
Your Right to Seek Workers’ Compensation Benefits is Legally Protected
Pennsylvania law requires most employers to carry workers’ compensation insurance to pay benefits to employees who become ill or injured on the job. Filing for these benefits is a legally protected right for employees.
Unfortunately, like most insurance policies, workers’ comp claims can result in higher premiums for the employer. Whether your employer is angry because of potentially higher insurance premiums or some other reason, retaliating against you for filing a workers’ compensation claim is not only illegal, but it can also subject them to liability for damages if you choose to file a lawsuit against them.
What is Considered Unlawful Workplace Retaliation?
If you’ve experienced negative consequences after you’ve filed a workers’ comp claim, this could be considered unlawful retaliation. Your employer may have seemed satisfied with your job performance one day and then mysteriously dissatisfied the next. If you tried to approach management or your employer about it, they may have tried to blame you for other workplace problems or even denied there was an issue. And yet, you are being treated differently than you were before.
Retaliation happens when an employer has punished you for engaging in a protected right, like filing for workers’ compensation benefits. While dismissal is the most apparent form of workplace retaliation, other examples can include:
- A demotion
- A reduction in pay or hours
- Negative performance reviews
- Unjustified disciplinary actions
- Creating a hostile work environment
- Change of job duties or reassignment to a less desirable position
- Denial of a promotion
- Denial of benefits
- Exclusion from meetings or information needed to do your job
- Increased monitoring of your work activities
- Harassment, bullying, and intimidation
- Spreading false information about you
Can You Be Fired While You’re on Workers’ Compensation?
Pennsylvania is an at-will state, which means you can be fired for almost any reason at any time—unless it breaks the law. Firing you for filing a workers’ compensation claim is one of these unlawful actions. Your employer is not required to hold your job open for you while you are collecting workers’ compensation benefits, but neither can they fire you because you exercised your rights to file a claim.
Yes, you can be fired while you’re on workers’ compensation, providing the reason is unrelated to your workers’ comp claim. However, employers rarely admit they fired or demoted employees because they filed a claim. They are much more likely to cite other reasons for the termination, like poor job performance. This can make a retaliation claim very difficult to prove.
Is There a Limit to How Long You Can Be Out of Work Because of a Work-Related Injury?
While there is no predetermined time limit for being away from your job because of an injury, workers’ compensation is designed to get you back to work as soon as your doctor clears you to return. You may lose your benefits if you refuse an offer to return, but you may also lose your rights to benefits if you return prematurely and can’t perform your work duties. When collecting workers ‘ compensation benefits, it’s important to speak with an experienced workers’ compensation lawyer in Allentown if you have questions about your rights and options.
What if Your Work Injury as Resulted in a Disability? Does Your Employer Have to Accommodate if You Want to Return to Work?
Under workers’ compensation rules, your employer may not offer you modified work when you return. However, if your work-related injury qualifies as a disability under the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA) or the Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA), you can request reasonable accommodation. If your employer refuses, it may be considered discrimination. Conversely, an employer will not be required to provide you reasonable accommodation if they can prove it is too costly or disruptive to them.
What Should You Do if You Believe You’re the Victim of Retaliation?
If you believe you have been retaliated against, you have several legal remedies available to you. It’s important to begin compiling evidence and gathering records of what incidents have happened that feel retaliatory. Include the date, time, details, and any witnesses that may have been present. You can file a complaint with the Pennsylvania Bureau of Workers’ Compensation to file a retaliation complaint. You will also want to get the guidance of an Allentown workers’ compensation lawyer if you choose to file a lawsuit against them.
How Can a Workers’ Compensation Lawyer Help You Prove Workplace Retaliation?
You and your lawyer must establish a connection between filing a workers’ compensation claim and your employer’s adverse action to prove retaliation. While proving that you engaged in a protected activity and suffered a subsequent adverse action is relatively easy, proving a causal connection between them can be more challenging.
Your attorney will collect evidence that will enable them to build a strong case for you, including your employment records, reviews, emails, texts, and memos that could indicate your employer’s motives. Depositions and affidavits may be taken from your coworkers and other witnesses. Your attorney will also look for patterns of other retaliatory behavior if other employees were treated in similar situations.
Suffering a work-related injury is challenging enough, but your employer may not demote, harass, or otherwise retaliate against you for exercising your protected rights to workers’ compensation benefits. At Saffren & Weinberg, our skilled Allentown workers’ compensation lawyers are here to help. Call us at (215) 576-0100 to schedule a free initial consultation or through our online contact page.
Disclosure:
This website is designed to provide only general information. The information presented on this website is not formal legal advice. You should not rely on any general information from any source for making legal decisions. Each legal matter is unique and requires specific attention from a qualified and experienced attorney. Unless a representation agreement has been signed with Saffren & Weinberg, we are not your legal representatives.