Have you been fired by your job after giving them years of your life? Why did they fire you? Did you have a workers’ compensation claim?
Workers’ compensation is a huge slippery slope. On one hand, it gives protections to you as an employee. On the other hand, your employer may try to retaliate because you filed workers’ compensation. You have a right to workers’ compensation, and a company cannot fire you as retaliation for filing a worker’s compensation claim. The key is having evidence to prove that this is why you were fired.
I once had a client who had worked for the same company for over 20 years. She injured her arm while working, and had to file a workers’ compensation claim. The doctor checked her out and told her it as Fibromyalgia, then had her take a leave from work. Her employer didn’t like that, so they sent her to a different doctor who declared that she was able to return to work.
She re-injured herself, and had to go on leave indefinitely. Her employer begged her to come back, and being a hard worker, she did. She requested and was granted some unpaid days off around a winter vacation. She was fired 2 days into her unpaid vacation. She was upset. Her employer said they were firing her because of job abandonment, but she knew she had received permission.
We had several experts testify on behalf of the client, but the most important testimony is the one from a coworker who their supervisor giving our client permission to have those days off. In response, the jury awarded a verdict of $1.8 million in favor of our client. Watch the video to learn more.
You can also find more videos and learn further about workers compensation laws on our media page. If you have questions about what to do if you were fired from a job for filing a worker’s compensation claim for an on the job injury, please contact us by email or at 1-312-384-1920 or 1-800-693-1LAW. At the Dinizulu Law Group, Ltd., our workman comp lawyers from Chicago are here for you.
