Can I Be Fired While on Workers’ Compensation?

When an employee gets hurt on the job, one of their first fears is often their job security. Everyone knows that employers like employees who work hard and do not make trouble, and even though it is an unfair viewpoint, there are some companies that believe that injured workers make trouble for the company. It is a reasonable fear; medical bills and lost wages are stressful on their own. Wondering if your job will still be there when you return makes it even worse.

While you can technically be fired while on workers’ compensation in Tennessee, you cannot be fired for filing a workers’ compensation claim. It is important to know your rights and take steps to protect them when your employer is impeding on them. Call Rocky McElhaney Law Firm today to set up a consultation with our team now.

Filing for workers’ compensation is a legally protected act

There are lots of myths and misunderstandings floating around this topic. Yes, like almost every other state, Tennessee is an at-will employment state. This means that your employer can terminate you at any time and for almost any reason without notice. However, there are exceptions to this right, and retaliation is one of them.

The law protects workers who file workers’ compensation claims from retaliation. A worker cannot be terminated in retaliation for reporting a work-related injury, filing a workers’ comp claim, or otherwise asserting their rights under the state’s workers’ compensation system.

This does not mean that your workers’ comp filing has to be the reason given for your termination in order for it to be unlawful. Most employers are smart enough to recognize that they can not come out and say that. Even if the reason given for your termination is something else, you have rights if you believe your workers’ comp claim is behind it.

Examples of retaliation

Not all retaliation is openly admitted. While there are inexperienced managers who will come out and say the quiet part out loud (which makes proving your case very easy), most will skirt around the truth and try to come up with other reasons for their actions. Red flags include situations where an employee:

• Is terminated just days or weeks after filing their workers’ compensation claim
• Is suddenly under pressure or disciplined for costing the company money
• Gets write-ups and disciplinary actions that did not exist before the injury; in some cases, these write-ups are even backdated to make it look like there were pre-existing issues with the employee’s performance
• Experiences intense pressure to resign
• Is subject to poor treatment or is reassigned to other tasks to force them to quit
• Hears managers and other employees complaining about workers’ compensation or injured workers

When termination closely follows a workers’ compensation claim or reported injury, there is good reason to suspect retaliation.

When firing may be legal

This does not mean that all firings after a workers’ comp claim are illegal. Employers can still make appropriate personnel decisions that are completely unrelated to the employee’s injury or workers’ comp claim. Termination may be lawful when it is a result of:

• Documented performance problems that predate the injury and were communicated to the employee per company policy
• Company-wide reductions in force
• Business restructuring or closure
• Employee policy violations and misconduct

It is important that you understand the difference between a real, non-retaliatory reason for termination and a “real” reason that is just a flimsy shield for a retaliatory termination. Courts do not just take the employer’s or employee’s word for it when it comes to these issues. They look at the timing of the termination, how consistent the employer’s explanations are, the paperwork trail, and if issues only appeared after a claim was filed.

How your manager’s explanations affect your termination

The consistency of a manager’s explanations is an important factor in your case. It is not uncommon for an inexperienced manager or supervisory team to show their hand in this area. They may initially claim that your termination was a result of a reduction in work that forced them to let some employees go, only to later claim that you were terminated for performance issues. When presented with positive reviews and the fact that you never received any write-ups, they may pivot and claim that they received complaints from clients or coworkers that forced them to act. Constantly shifting the goalposts is a red flag.

Your manager’s treatment of other employees may also be scrutinized if you seek legal action. Let us say your manager claims that you are being terminated because of two write-ups for lateness in the past six months. On its face, that may sound like a valid reason for termination. However, if your attorney finds that there are several other employees with more write-ups for lateness who have not been threatened with termination, that may support your retaliation claim.

Do workers’ comp benefits stop after termination?

Your workers’ compensation benefits do not automatically stop after termination. In an accepted Tennessee workers’ compensation claim, your employer’s insurer generally must pay for reasonable and necessary medical care for your work injury, though settlements can limit or close future medical benefits. If your authorized treating physician keeps you off work or on restrictions and you have not returned to work, temporary disability benefits generally continue until you return to work, reach maximum medical improvement, reach the statutory cap, or another legally valid reason to stop benefits applies.

If your workers’ comp benefits stop around the time you are terminated and you are still under medical restrictions, that may be an improper denial of benefits. If you do not already have a workers’ compensation attorney working on your termination case, you should contact one immediately to discuss your sudden loss of benefits—benefits you need to recover from your injury and get back to life as normal.

Protect your rights as a worker—we are here to help

At Rocky McElhaney Law Firm, we are ready to fight for you if your employer is pushing back against your workers’ compensation claim. Call us today or send us a message online to discuss your case in greater detail.