Alabama Workers Compensation Lawyers       Afraid of being fired

Alabama Workers Compensation Lawyers        Afraid of being fired

Alabama Workers Compensation Lawyer Afraid of being fired?  Not long ago I was reading the results of a study which indicated a decent percentage of injured workers feared being fired specifically because they had suffered a job injury.  This fear causes some injured workers to keep silent about their job injury, and as a result their injuries only grow worse and the delay in reporting their job injury could prevent them from later coming forward and claiming the workers’ compensation benefits they were entitled to receive.

Can your boss fire you after suffering a job injury and claiming workers compensation benefits?

Yes, your employer may fire you or lay you off, BUT NOT because you sought benefits related to your job injury.  If you mouth off to a supervisor, come to work drunk or other such actions, you may be terminated.  If the company is going through a down time and layoffs are taking place, you may be laid off.  The mere fact that you suffered a job injury does not mean that you cannot be let go; however, if you were let go in retaliation for seeking workers comp benefits, you may sue your former employer for WRONGUL TERMINATION.

The Alabama Supreme Court has set forth 4 factors to be looked at when trying to determine whether a worker who suffered a job injury and was subsequently let go equates to wrongful termination.  The factors are: 1) was there an employment relationship, 2) did the worker suffer a job injury, 3) knowledge on the part of the employer of the on-the-job injury, and 4) subsequent termination of employment based solely upon the employee’s on-the-job injury and the filing of a workers’ compensation claim.  Evidence that other employees who suffered job injuries were also terminated after suffering their job injury is also evidence of a wrongful motive.

In Alabama, your employer cannot fire you solely because you have reported and sought workers’ compensation benefits related to a job injury, and this is difficult to prove as no employer will ever admit that they fired an employee in retaliation for seeking workers’ compensation benefits and they don’t put it in writing.  Typically, you have to prove your case through circumstantial evidence and a lot of legal elbow grease.

In October of last year, our firm tried a wrongful termination (also called retaliatory discharge) claim in Bessemer, Alabama for 10 days.  The defendant argued that the fact that our client was fired within 90 days of his job injury had nothing to do with the fact he hired an attorney to help him with his workers’ compensation claim and presented multiple of witnesses to testify to this, but we were able to show the Court that the reasons provided to justify our client’s termination were pretextual in nature by effectively cross-examining their witnesses, providing our own witnesses and by being able to show through voluminous records and contradictory company policies that the company did in fact fire our client as warning to other employees—and we were able to obtain a verdict in favor of our client for $750,000.00.

If you have been hurt at work in Alabama and you are afraid of what might happen if you should claim workers’ compensation, please do not let the fear paralyze you into inaction.  If you suffered a job injury and subsequently were fired for reasons you know aren’t true, you could have a claim for both workers compensation and wrongful termination benefits.  If you have questions about a potential wrongful termination claim or about your right to Alabama workers compensation benefits, don’t hesitate to contact one of the experienced Alabama Workers Compensation lawyers at Powell and Denny for a free consultation to go over your questions and rights.

Appointments are available in person, or virtually through Zoom for your convenience from wherever you live.

Powell and Denny: We Work When You Can’t

Offices in Birmingham, AL and Huntsville, AL

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Powell and Denny have been selected as one of the Best Law Firms by U.S. News and World Report for each of the last 9 years, have been selected as one of Birmingham’s Top Lawyers by B-Metro Magazine for the last 5 years, have been selected by The National Advocates as one of the Top 20 Workers’ Compensation Firms (plaintiffs) and Powell and Denny, P.C.-has been selected as one of the “Best of the Best” law firms by The American Registry.

Mr. Denny is AV rated by Martindale Hubbard (the highest rating possible) and Mr. Powell has been rated as Superior by The National Registry

+ Powell and Denny have successfully represented injured workers from Birmingham, Huntsville, Florence, Muscle Shoals, Tuscumbia, Athens, Decatur, Town Creek Ardmore, Hartselle, Madison, Toney, Scottsboro, Ft. Payne, New Hope, Guntersville, Albertville, Boaz, Ashville, Anniston, Gadsden, Cullman, Jasper, Gardendale, Morris, Kimberly, Centerpoint, Leeds, Tarrant City, Fairfield, Hueytown, Bessemer, Adger, Tuscaloosa, Cordova, Alabaster, Pelham, Harpersville, Opelika, Phenix City, Montgomery, Clanton, Calera, Enterprise, Monroeville, Mobile, Evergreen, Alabaster, Pelham, Trussville and towns and cities in between.

 

Alabama Workers Compensation Lawyers                Afraid of being fired