Information on Filing a Wrongful Termination, Disability Discrimination and Workers Compensation Cases at the Same Time
Here is a typical scenario. You are an employee with a track record of good performance. You suffer on the job injury, such as falling off the ladder or injuring your back or shoulder during lifting something heavy, transporting a patient, being involved in a car accident while on duty, or a similar incident. Shortly after suffering that injury and requesting medical leave to recover, you are fired for "insubordination" or for "not being a team player" or for some other vague, and highly subjective reason.
You then have a number of legal options to pursue. First, you should definitely file a workers compensation claim on your own or through a competent workers compensation attorney. This claim will only seek compensation for your injuries and will only depend on the extent of your injuries that will be determined by the QME (Qualifed Medical Exam) panel. The advantage of a workers compensation claim is that it doesn't depend on any of the circumstances of your termination, such as insubordination, violation of policies, etc.... As long as you have been injured on the job, that's all the matters for the purposes of receiving compensation for your injury. Unlike discrimination and wrongful termination cases, a workers compensation claim is not brought in court but is adjudicated through an administrative office of WCAB (Workers Compensation Appeals Board) and related entities.
At the same time, you may bring a wrongful termination and disability discrimination lawsuit in court for violation of ADA and FEHA, if there is sufficient evidence to show that the true reason for your termination was suffering an injury and requesting accommodations, such as modified duty, transfer to a different vacant position, or medical leave. This is the case where every fact of who said and did what, to whom, and when will matter. The outcome of your wrongful termination case in court has very little, if anything, to do with your workers compensation claim.
There are two main advantages to pursuing both, a wrongful termination and workers comp case at the same time. First, you have two opportunities to recovery compensation based on two different legal theories. If you lose one case, you still have an opportunity to prove your other case, and be compensated. Secondly, pursuing both claims at the same time often encourages the employer to try to settle all claims in a "global settlement", rather than continuing to fight, due to the pressure of legal expenses on two cases, rather than one.
You then have a number of legal options to pursue. First, you should definitely file a workers compensation claim on your own or through a competent workers compensation attorney. This claim will only seek compensation for your injuries and will only depend on the extent of your injuries that will be determined by the QME (Qualifed Medical Exam) panel. The advantage of a workers compensation claim is that it doesn't depend on any of the circumstances of your termination, such as insubordination, violation of policies, etc.... As long as you have been injured on the job, that's all the matters for the purposes of receiving compensation for your injury. Unlike discrimination and wrongful termination cases, a workers compensation claim is not brought in court but is adjudicated through an administrative office of WCAB (Workers Compensation Appeals Board) and related entities.
At the same time, you may bring a wrongful termination and disability discrimination lawsuit in court for violation of ADA and FEHA, if there is sufficient evidence to show that the true reason for your termination was suffering an injury and requesting accommodations, such as modified duty, transfer to a different vacant position, or medical leave. This is the case where every fact of who said and did what, to whom, and when will matter. The outcome of your wrongful termination case in court has very little, if anything, to do with your workers compensation claim.
There are two main advantages to pursuing both, a wrongful termination and workers comp case at the same time. First, you have two opportunities to recovery compensation based on two different legal theories. If you lose one case, you still have an opportunity to prove your other case, and be compensated. Secondly, pursuing both claims at the same time often encourages the employer to try to settle all claims in a "global settlement", rather than continuing to fight, due to the pressure of legal expenses on two cases, rather than one.