fired from post office for filing worker comp claim

[cancungirl]

i have worked for the post office for 13 years. last year i filed a workers comp claim for a shoulder injury and was approved by the department of labor. they approved me for rotator cuff syndrome. a few months later i put a claim in for my right shoulder and one for my right elbow. my workers comp doctor told me he couldnt look at my elbow unless i put in a claim. anyway the jist of this is my boss wrote the department of labor and told them she didnt feel i had a claim.so the dep of labor refused my claim.i retained a lawyer and went to appeals court in december of 07. the dep of labor agreed my elbow was work related (ulnar nerve damage)but i would have to see their doctors.in nov i went back to 8 hrs limited duty.since i went to court in dec come january my boss came to my desk and told me the office of inspector general wanted to speak to me.i asked for my union rep to be present right then and there everything stopped. they told me to get a lawyer.(criminal lawyer) but they wouldnt tell me what i did so i went back to my office where my boss called me and my union rep into her office. she told me i was being placed on emergency placement. when i asked what i did she told me in front of my union rep that i was being put on emergency suspention without pay for putting in false workers comp claims.

I was suspended without pay in january.i could not get a paycheck or apply for unemployment until i was officially fired. so i was suspended in january fired in april and come june my paperwork came in that my case was approved for workers comp.
I do have a arbitration date set for nov. but my question is
isnt it against the law to fire someone who filed a workers comp claim?
isnt it against the law to fire someone before the claim even comes in?

I feel my boss has a personal vendetta against me and was just trying to find a way to get rid of me.

my union rep told them that my case was approved and to bring me back otherwise they will owe me thousands in back pay. they said no they want to take it to step 3 arbitraton.

In the meantime I cant find a decent job or any job at that. I was making 53,000.00 a year. I cant even get an interview

ive gone bankrupt ..i could lose my house at anytime

do i have a wrongful termination suit? and if i get my job back with back pay can i still bring a wrongful termination suit against them.if i can then can they fire me for suing the **** out of them?

[Bricks41]

From what you have written, they have accused you of submitting a false worker's compensation claim. In most cases, if they thought it was fraudulant, they would suspend the person and draw it out as much as they can to potentially deter the person from pursuing or gaining benefits.

It appears as though in most cases this would have worked, but in your case has not because it is a true case. They have put you under enormous financial hardship by prolonging it longer than what was needed, so in essence, they will most likely have costed them 10x the amount of money then was originally needed for this case. May not be this year, next year, or the one after but when it hits their worker's comp rating, it will...

They are probably counting on you messing up or giving up on said claim. As long as you stay with it, or get a lawyer to represent you, you should be able to make due. It may result in further financial hardship, but from the sounds of it, a lawyer will be willing to take a part of the reward as oppose to a fee.

The ligitimate claim being approved, coupled with your time off, should qualify you for a substantial payment for backed wages, but in addition to that, you should be able to obtain additional damages.

Stay with it, they are counting on you giving up and sweeping it under the rug.

[garcee13]

I feel your pain. I just filed worker's comp in this year only for a week. Went to the ER cause i couldn't move and brought all that documentation in and they think i'm lieing because i have children that since it was the same week of easter vacation. I'm very upset and to think it's only a week. I'm going to fight it trust me cause that is BS. I can imagine how you feel.

Show them your ER docs--that should resolve it.

When will employees learn that actually filing a claim under worker's comp. will result in getting fired sooner rather than later? It's not in place for the benefit of the employee. It's in place under law, and if the employee costs the employer money, the employer isn't pleased. The employer is looking out for his/her bank account's bottom line. Employees who file worker's comp. are liabilities, not assets.

Either find another way around sick/injured time off or expect to lose your job not long after you file a claim under worker's compensation. It's not really in place to protect the employee.

Remember, employers ultimately pay only for a person's time and really get skill, education, experience for free. Take Administrative Assistant. Check out all the qualifications needed, and assess what all of things are worth. Then take the actual salary that A.A. is offered. 9-12 bucks per hour. It's time. Not quality that employers are paying for.

Employers would never hire if they could get away with it. Employees are liabilities. NOT assets.

Originally Posted by cancungirl i have worked for the post office for 13 years. last year i filed a workers comp claim for a shoulder injury and was approved by the department of labor. they approved me for rotator cuff syndrome. a few months later i put a claim in for my right shoulder and one for my right elbow. my workers comp doctor told me he couldnt look at my elbow unless i put in a claim. anyway the jist of this is my boss wrote the department of labor and told them she didnt feel i had a claim.so the dep of labor refused my claim.i retained a lawyer and went to appeals court in december of 07. the dep of labor agreed my elbow was work related (ulnar nerve damage)but i would have to see their doctors.in nov i went back to 8 hrs limited duty.since i went to court in dec come january my boss came to my desk and told me the office of inspector general wanted to speak to me.i asked for my union rep to be present right then and there everything stopped. they told me to get a lawyer.(criminal lawyer) but they wouldnt tell me what i did so i went back to my office where my boss called me and my union rep into her office. she told me i was being placed on emergency placement. when i asked what i did she told me in front of my union rep that i was being put on emergency suspention without pay for putting in false workers comp claims. I was suspended without pay in january.i could not get a paycheck or apply for unemployment until i was officially fired. so i was suspended in january fired in april and come june my paperwork came in that my case was approved for workers comp. I do have a arbitration date set for nov. but my question is isnt it against the law to fire someone who filed a workers comp claim? isnt it against the law to fire someone before the claim even comes in? I feel my boss has a personal vendetta against me and was just trying to find a way to get rid of me. my union rep told them that my case was approved and to bring me back otherwise they will owe me thousands in back pay. they said no they want to take it to step 3 arbitraton. In the meantime I cant find a decent job or any job at that. I was making 53,000.00 a year. I cant even get an interview ive gone bankrupt ..i could lose my house at anytime do i have a wrongful termination suit? and if i get my job back with back pay can i still bring a wrongful termination suit against them.if i can then can they fire me for suing the **** out of them?

you have all sorts of recourse if the dol accepted your claim and they fired you grt the right lawyer and you will be rich if the union refued to help you file a albor charge for refusal to represent