What If Your Employer Retaliates Against You For Claiming Workers' Comp?
In most U.S. states, employers are required to carry workers' compensation insurance. This coverage is meant to protect an employee who accidentally gets injured while on the job. For example, a warehouse worker might be injured by a malfunctioning forklift, or a desk worker could develop carpal tunnel syndrome. Workers' compensation benefits help pay for medical treatment and often cover wage replacement as well so that injured employees won't encounter financial strain while they recover.
A worker doesn't have to prove that their employer was at fault for the accident that injured them. However, an insurance company may still see the employer as riskier to cover after an accident, so the insurer may raise the employer's premiums following a claim. The employer may seek to punish the worker for filing a claim or prevent them from seeking workers' comp benefits in the first place. This behavior is illegal but does happen, so it's important to understand how to proceed when an employer retaliates against an injured worker.
Discouraging an Employee From Filing a Claim
Even if an accident was minor, it's important to report it to a supervisor or other company manager. Severe injuries may need to be reported to OSHA as well. To avoid an investigation, an employer might discourage the injured worker from reporting their injury or outright forbid it. They might even offer the employee a reward for keeping silent. However, this is a warning sign that the employer wants to avoid a workers' compensation claim.
In order to receive an insurance payout after an injury, no matter how minor, an employee must prove that the injury happened due to work-related activity. The accident report is a major piece of evidence linking the injury to on-the-clock tasks. If an employer tries to interfere with an employee's right to file for workers' compensation, the employee may want to consult an attorney about legal action to ensure that they are fairly compensated.
Punishing an Employee for Filing a Claim
In some instances, employers retaliate against injured workers once they've recovered and returned to the job. This might look like reassigning the worker to less desirable shifts, demoting the worker, refusing to promote them, or even firing them. These actions are all illegal if they are punishment for filing a workers' compensation claim. It's possible that a worker may not be able to perform the same jobs as before the accident and need a disability accommodated at work, but an employer should not use this as an excuse to retaliate against the worker.
An employee who believes their employer has retaliated against them for filing a claim for insurance benefits should contact a workers' compensation attorney about their rights under state and federal law.
