Can you be fired if you report a work injury?

Can you be fired if you report a work injury?

Hi everyone! Dustin here from lawatyourside.com where we provide real legal help when you really need it. And a common question we get a lot is can my employer fire me if I get injured at work?

So you're going along, you get injured at work, you report your claim or if you're scared to report your claim because you're scared that you’re going to get fired or harassed or discriminated against for that, and that’s a big no-no.

Employers cannot do that at all. They cannot discriminate against you because you filed a workers' comp claim. They cannot fire you because you’ve got injured and you filed a claim, and they cannot start to treat you differently in a demeaning manner because you filed a claim. They can't isolate you or harass you or do things like that because you filed a workers' comp claim.

There are two different causes of action that really you could pursue. One might be a wrongful termination or disability discrimination claim. So if you got injured and they're discriminating against you because you're disabled now or they just fire you, those are civil causes of action you can file in court. Also, in the workers' compensation system, you could pursue what's called a Labor Code 132A, meaning you can file a claim for workers' compensation discrimination. So they're discriminating against you in one way, shape or form, because you filed a workers' compensation claim or because you reported a work injury; those are both big no-no's by the employer.

Now, that being said, they still may do it. A lot of employers don't know the law. They still may do it, so I don't want to tell you that they are not going to do that for sure if you report a work injury, but they're not supposed to do that. So it's important when you're reporting your work injury, try to put it in writing, try to create a nice consistent timeline with documented evidence or go to the doctor, show the medical report to your employer, so you have these documents to back it up, so they don't come back later saying, "No, you never told me about the injury," or "You never told me this," "You know, we're firing you for other reasons" which again is common.

Sometimes, you may report a work injury then all of a sudden, they start to find out that you're being late all the time or you're not doing your work properly, and they started again to discriminate or harass you for that and that's a big no-no in the law and they're not entitled to do that. So if that's happening to you, make sure you give us a call right away so we can figure out how we can best help you.

If you want further assistance with your work-related injury or you want to talk to a lawyer and get your questions answered or you want us to represent you in your workers' compensation case, please feel free to give us a call at the number below or click the link below and fill out the submission form, and we will do our best and work our hardest to ensure that we give you all the benefits that you are entitled to under the law. And we hope you have a smooth, efficient case that runs through so you can get back to your healthiest that you can be and also receive all the benefits that you're entitled to. Thanks so much.