The prospect of job loss is incredibly scary. Now imagine getting fired because you got injured at work. Not only are you without a job, but you may be too injured to look for another one, and possibly without health insurance as well. Fortunately, Ohio and federal disability discrimination laws, and other similar laws, may help. To protect your rights, talk to an Ohio workplace injury lawyer.
Ohio workers’ compensation retaliation attorney
The first line of defense for employees fired because of a workplace injury may be Ohio’s workers’ compensation retaliation statute, Revised Code section 4123.90. This statute makes it illegal to fire an employee for pursuing a workers’ compensation claim. A successful plaintiff can obtain reinstatement, backpay, and attorneys’ fees. However, section 4123.90 has unforgiving procedural requirements, and unlike Ohio’s disability discrimination laws, does not permit recovery for emotional distress or punitive damages.
Medical accommodations for injured workers
In some cases, employees injured at work will be covered by the Americans with Disabilities Act or its Ohio counterpart, Revised Code Chapter 4112. If an employee becomes disabled as a result of a workplace injury, the employee is protected from discrimination, as long as he or she can still perform the essential functions of the job, with or without a reasonable accommodation. A leave of absence for recovery will be a reasonable accommodation in many instances. A non-disabled employee may also be protected if the employer incorrectly believes the employee is disabled. Such situations might arise where the employer openly questions the employee’s ability to perform the job, and then fires, demotes, or suspends the employee soon after.
Medical leave protections for workplace injuries
Another statute that might be useful is the federal Family and Medical Leave Act. The FMLA permits eligible employees to take unpaid, but job-protected, leave up to twelve weeks in any twelve-month period for a “serious health condition” that makes the employee temporarily unable to perform the functions of his or her job. However, the FMLA will not cover most employees of smaller companies or employees who have been on the job for less than a year.
Ohio workplace injury lawyer
These Ohio and federal laws can be useful to protect employees who are injured at work and get fired as a result. But whether they will apply in a given case can be a highly technical and fact-specific inquiry. On top of that, the laws have strict procedural requirements that employees must follow or forever lose their claims. The lesson for employees is to consult an employment attorney with experience litigating these issues, and to do so quickly.
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