Workers’ compensation is an employment benefit that is an expectation of nearly all employed professionals in Kansas City. Given that having such coverage is a legal requirement, employers should not be shocked or upset when employees need to use it. Retaliating against an employee for seeking workers’ compensation may be illegal, and could not only net an employer fines and other penalties, but also open it up to civil litigation.
That is exactly what a Hawaii man chose to pursue after he was fired from his job as a firefighter. He claims that he was forced to deal with a hostile work environment imposed by his employer after he testified against his supervisors in an ethics hearing. Among the accusations made against his supervisors was that they were using company resources for their own personal businesses. Once the fact that he testified against them was uncovered, the man claims that his supervisors targeted him by demanding unnecessary drugs tests and not allowing him to work overtime. He claims that the stress led to him needing to take a leave of absence and file a workers’ compensation claim. He believes that those actions gave the department a reason to fire him.
While this man’s assertions against his employer may be valid, his assumption regarding his firing is not. An employee filing a workers’ compensation claim does not give a company cause to fire them, as that benefit is required. If one believes that they were targeted for seeking benefits that are owed to them, they certainly may have cause to seek action. Such action may have a better chance of success if one has the support of an experienced attorney.