Employers in California are expected to provide workers’ compensation insurance to all their employees. They must also ensure that their workers are clearly informed of their workers’ comp rights and able to exercise those rights freely. Unfortunately, not every company accepts the responsibility for work-related injuries required by their workers’ comp insurance, and sometimes they unlawfully retaliate against employees who try to file workers’ comp claims.
Retaliation of this nature can serve as grounds for further legal action beyond your original workers’ comp claim. It might also lead to you receiving additional benefits that you otherwise might not have been entitled to. However, getting a favorable result from this kind of claim can be difficult without an experienced attorney. If your employer has unfairly targeted you over a workers’ comp claim, contact us to get help from a Santa Ana workers’ compensation retaliation lawyer.
California Labor Code § 132a prohibits employers from discriminating in any way against employees who get hurt or sick in the course and scope of their employment. Employers specifically cannot fire, or threaten to fire, an employee directly because of that employee filing, intending to file, or testifying on another worker’s behalf regarding a workers’ comp claim. Workers’ comp insurance providers likewise cannot advise or ask an employer to fire an employee based on their participation in a workers’ comp claim. Additionally, insurance providers cannot threaten premium increases or policy cancellation or make any other type of threat toward employers for that same reason.
Loss of employment is not the only way an employer can illegally discriminate against an employee for participating in workers’ comp. A Santa Ana attorney experienced in workers’ compensation retaliation could help with unwarranted reductions in compensation, transfers to less desirable positions, and even requirements to use personal vacation time to attend doctor appointments.
Depending on precisely how an employer or insurance provider unlawfully retaliates against an employee, California Labor Code § 132a provides for different remedies. Broadly speaking, anyone who can prove they were discriminated against in relation to a workers’ comp claim could demand reimbursement for lost wages or benefits caused by that discrimination. They could also request reinstatement in their previous job, if applicable, and an increase of up to 50 percent or $10,000—whichever is less—in their workers’ compensation award.
Employees may also be able to seek additional remedies through a claim filed under the Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA), since filing a workers’ comp claim is generally considered a protected activity for covered workers. However, FEHA cases do not work exactly the same way as workers’ comp retaliation lawsuits, so a worker should discuss their options with a Santa Ana lawyer first before trying to pursue any legal action alone.
While retaliation by an employer against an employee over a workers’ comp claim is absolutely against the law, proving that a specific action actually qualifies as retaliation can be far from simple. In reality, establishing retaliation to a court’s satisfaction can be next to impossible without assistance from capable and experienced legal counsel.
Fortunately, the help you may need to achieve the result you want is available. Call us today for a consultation with a seasoned Santa Ana workers’ compensation retaliation lawyer.
