If you were recently injured in a workplace accident or if you are suffering from an occupational disease, you may be worried that if you file a workers’ compensation claim, your employer may decide to fire you out of retaliation.
The reason we decided to dedicate a post to this issue is because it comes up a lot. Even though Georgia workers are protected under the state’s workers’ compensation laws, many injured workers hesitate to file a claim because they worry they’ll lose their jobs.
Can your employer legally fire you for filing a workers’ compensation claim? Georgia is an at-will employment state, like most states, which means employers can terminate employees for any reason, except for discrimination. Firing an employee because he or she files a workers’ compensation claim would be discrimination.
Most employers know that if they fire an injured employee for filing a workers’ compensation claim, that action would make them vulnerable to an employment lawsuit. If you file a workers’ compensation claim and you are suddenly terminated, you have every right to sue your employer for discrimination.
You Are Protected from Discrimination
If you were injured on the job and you’re afraid you’ll be fired if you file a workers’ compensation claim, don’t be. There are laws in place that protect you from discrimination, so you shouldn’t let fear of termination keep you from obtaining the valuable medical care and benefits that you desperately need.
All too often, injured workers refrain from filing workers’ compensation claims because they are afraid of employer retaliation. In these scenarios, injured workers either pay for their medical care out of their pocket, or they pay the insurance co-pays and deductibles, and they lose weeks, if not months of income.
In other scenarios, the workers cannot afford quality medical care so they never receive it. After losing thousands of dollars of income, the injured worker returns to work without properly treating their injuries, and it’s all downhill from there.
Upon returning to work, the injured worker can’t help but experience significant pain and discomfort. Sometimes they lose their job anyway because their injury keeps them from working. In effect, nothing good comes out of their failure to file a workers’ compensation claim and the worker and their family are the ones to suffer.
Injured on the job? Contact Jones & Swanson to meet with a Marietta personal injury attorney for free!
