What Should I Do if My Employer Retaliates Against Me for Filing a Workers’ Compensation Claim in Omaha?
It is against the law for your employer to retaliate against you for filing a workers’ compensation claim; if it happens, you should contact the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) to see if you have grounds for a lawsuit.
Much like bankruptcy protection, workers’ compensation is available to everyone who needs it, at least in theory. If you get injured at work, you have the right to have your employer’s workers’ compensation insurance pay for treatment of your work injury. This is not a guarantee that your finances will not experience any adverse effects whatsoever from the injury. In fact, employers and injured workers frequently disagree about the appropriate course of treatment or even whether the injury is work-related in the first place. It is perfectly legal for your employer to deny your workers’ comp claim, but if this happens, then the worst-case scenario should be that you will have to pay for the associated medical expenses with your own health insurance or out of pocket. It is illegal for your employer to fire you or take any other adverse actions against you in retaliation for filing the workers’ compensation claim. To find out more about protecting yourself from employer retaliation after filing a workers’ compensation claim, contact an Omaha workers compensation lawyer.
What Does Employer Retaliation Look Like?
Employer retaliation occurs when your employer takes an adverse action against you in response to you engaging in a legally protected activity. The following are examples of adverse actions:
- Unfairly negative performance reviews
- Excessive scrutiny of your work
- Harassment, bullying, or hostile work environment
- Changing your work schedule, job duties, or work location when you did not request this
- Denying you a promotion or raise for which you are eligible
- Demoting you or reducing your pay
- Termination of employment
Filing a workers’ compensation claim is a legally protected activity. Other examples of legally protected activities include reporting OSHA violations, taking medical leave or family leave pursuant to FMLA, or requesting disability accommodations.
How to File an Employer Retaliation Claim
You can sue your employer if they retaliate against you for filing a workers’ compensation claim, but there are some preliminary steps. First, you must contact the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), which will investigate your complaint; after the investigation, the EEOC will authorize you to sue if it finds that your claims have merit. If you win your case, the court may award you damages for the income you lost because of the retaliation. In some cases, you may be awarded noneconomic damages in an employer retaliation lawsuit related to a work injury.
Contact Andres Law Offices, PC LLO, About Workers’ Compensation Disputes
An Omaha workers’ compensation lawyer can help you if your employer took an adverse action against you in retaliation for your filing a workers’ compensation claim about a work injury. Contact Andres Law Offices, PC LLO in Omaha, Nebraska, about your case.