Riverside Workers’ Compensation Retaliation Lawyer
Protecting the Rights of Southern California Workers Injured on the Job
If you are injured on the job in California, you are guaranteed workers’ compensation benefits. You have the right to coverage for your medical costs, temporary or permanent disability benefits for income lost due to inability to work, supplemental job displacement benefits to help you retrain for another job if you are unable to perform your previous job, and death benefits for the family of a deceased worker. Your employer must carry sufficient workers’ compensation insurance to cover injured workers and must not object to an injured worker applying for and receiving workers’ comp benefits.
Many employers, however, dislike workers’ comp. Some employers even actively discourage employees from filing workers’ comp claims and punish employees when they do. Punishing employees for exercising their legal right to workers’ comp coverage is illegal. If your employer has been discouraging employees from filing for benefits, or if you have been directly threatened or harmed by your employer for applying for workers’ comp benefits, you have the right to seek legal recourse. In Southern California, the Riverside workers’ compensation attorneys at Ochoa & Calderon will help you get the benefits you are owed, protect your rights, and hold your employer accountable for their wrongful conduct.
Types of Workers’ Comp Retaliation
Retaliation refers to any adverse employment action taken against an employee for exercising legally-protected rights, including applying for workers’ compensation benefits. Retaliation can take many forms. Some of the more common forms of retaliation for applying for workers’ compensation include:
- Firing an employee because they have filed for workers’ comp, are receiving workers’ comp, or are likely to file for workers’ comp benefits in the future
- Demoting an employee or reassigning them to a less-preferred position or location
- Threatening to fire an employee
- Giving an employee a negative review or a mark on their record just because they applied for or received workers’ comp benefits
- Denying benefits or bonuses to an employee
- Increasing scrutiny around an employee, such as by punishing them for conduct that other employees are not punished for doing
- Creating a hostile work environment for an employee
- Threatening to report the employee to authorities, or actually reporting the employee to authorities, for real or fake illegal conduct (such as reporting an employee’s immigration status)
- Reducing compensation for an employee
Any of these behaviors by an employer can constitute unlawful retaliation. If you believe you have been targeted by your employer because of your need for workers’ comp benefits, an experienced workers’ comp attorney can help you push back.
Compensation for Retaliation
If you have been the target of unlawful retaliation, you have the right to sue your employer for their conduct. Whereas workplace injury claims are typically limited to the workers’ comp system, unlawful retaliation claims can be brought directly against an employer in court. In fact, your employer might even be guilty of a crime. You could be entitled to reimbursement for lost benefits, lost wages, and other damages resulting from the employer’s conduct. Depending on the conduct of your employer and whether they are guilty of criminal retaliation, you may be eligible for additional statutory damages as well.
Our Riverside Workers’ Compensation Lawyers Are Ready to Fight for You
For help getting benefits after an on-the-job injury or workplace illness, call Ochoa & Calderon to discuss your case with a seasoned and effective California workers’ comp lawyer. Call 951-901-4444 in Riverside or 844-401-0750 toll-free throughout Southern California.
