Can My Employer Fire Me Over a Workers’ Compensation Claim?

After you get injured at work, you may immediately report the incident to your employer. Here, they may attempt to dissuade you from taking this any further and pursuing a workers’ compensation claim. Specifically, they may insinuate that there will be negative consequences for doing so, such as losing your job assignment. If this is what you have had to deal with, please continue reading to learn whether your employer can fire you after filing a workers’ compensation claim and how an experienced lawyer in workers’ compensation benefits in Florida, at The Law Firm of Kevin A. Moore, can ensure you receive the compensation you deserve without unnecessary repercussions. 

Can my employer fire me for filing a workers’ compensation claim?

Well, Florida is an at-will employment state, which means that employers can terminate a worker’s employment at any time, for any legal reason, or for no reason at all, without notice. However, the operative phrase here is “legal reason.” And so, Florida law also makes it explicitly illegal for employers to fire or otherwise coerce employees for exercising their protected rights, such as for pursuing workers’ compensation benefits. 

Therefore, if your termination is directly linked to your claim, this may constitute unlawful retaliation. To make this causal connection, you may need documentation of the time your claim was filed versus the date you were released from your job assignment. You may also collect evidence in the form of witness statements and written communications, which allude to a negative shift in how your employer treated you up until they ultimately fired you. 

Can I file a retaliation claim after my workers’ compensation claim?

Even when your employer fires you, you may continue collecting workers’ compensation benefits. This is because this benefits program is based on your work-related injury, not your current employment status. So if your medical treatments and wage losses are still getting covered, you may wonder whether subsequently pursuing a retaliation claim against your employer is necessary, or even possible. 

Well, the answer is yes. We may push you towards taking this additional action to hold your employer accountable for their misconduct, in an attempt to prevent them from treating another employee in the same wrongful manner in the future. What’s more, though, is that this civil lawsuit may allow you to seek different remedies than what is afforded through workers’ compensation. Namely, key damages may be back pay, reinstatement, emotional distress, etc. 

You may feel isolated and alone when your employer is adopting retaliation tactics against you, but you are not. We at The Law Firm of Kevin A. Moore will be in your corner every step of the way. So please reach out to a skilled lawyer in workers’ compensation benefits in Florida today.