Employer Retaliation After A Minnesota Work Injury

In a perfect world, an employee who suffers an on-the-job injury would eventually make a full recovery and transition back to their normal role at work. Unfortunately, that doesn’t always happen. In some cases, employees can’t get back to their normal work routine because their employer chooses to punish them for getting injured. Not only is this unfair, it’s downright illegal.

Injured workers invariably lead to higher costs for the employer. Their workers’ compensation premiums may increase, they have to pay to hire a replacement, and then there is time lost to training and a likely decrease in efficiency. All of these factors can leave the employer angry at the employee, and if they take action to punish the employee because of their injury, they can face a lawsuit. Below, we take a look at some examples of employer retaliation after a work injury, and what you should do if you believe your employer is punishing you because of an on-the-job injury.

Types of Employer Retaliation

Firing an employee is not the only way an employer can retaliate against an injured employee. In fact, because termination after an injury is one of the easiest retaliatory actions to prove, it’s not the most common way an employer may choose to retaliate against an injured employee. Types of retaliatory actions include:

Demotion
Wage decrease
Workplace harassment
Intentional passing over for a promotion
Stripping benefits
Reduction in hours
Taking unwarranted disciplinary actions

All of these actions are illegal, and if you are suffering because your employer took one or more of these actions against you, make sure you contact a workers’ compensation lawyer.

Proving Employer Retaliation

Even though it may seem pretty obvious that your employer is treating you unfairly because of your decision to file for workers’ compensation, that doesn’t mean that it will be easy to prove in court. Your employer will likely come up with other legal reasons why they are treating you differently, so you’ll want to make your case the best way possible – with an experienced workers’ compensation lawyer in your corner.

Dean and his team have won numerous employer retaliation cases in the past, and he’s confident he can do the same for you. He’ll review your statements, collect witness testimony and help to establish a clear pattern of poor behavior on your company’s behalf. As an employee, you are a protected class, so don’t allow yourself to get bullied by your employer because you happened to get injured while working for them. Seek out professional legal advice, and go get the compensation you deserve. Contact Margolis Law Office today.