On the job injury Retaliation
When faced with an on-the-job injury, an employee should never have to fear retaliation or discrimination due to their injury or seeking worker’s compensation benefits. Doyle Dennis LLP represents injured seaman, railroad workers, as well as workers in Texas and Arizona, who have suffered an on-the-job injury and subsequently been wrongfully terminated.
Doyle Dennis LLP protects employees who have been targeted because of their on-the-job injury and treated differently, whether by discrimination, harassment, termination, retaliation, lay-offs, black-balling, interfering with medical care, suspending, or demoting. Some of the industries that commonly are subject to a claim for worker’s compensation retaliation include: Trucking, Oil and Gas, Healthcare, Construction, Ready Mix and Aggregates, Energy, Retail, Banking, Manufacturing, Natural resources, mining, trade, transportation, utilities, scientific and technical services, waste services, hospitality, and food services.
Doyle Dennis has been on the forefront of fighting for injured workers both at the trial and appellate level. In July 2019, Doyle Dennis LLP obtained a $1.73 million verdict in the case Ball v. Alleyton Resources Company LLC. In that case, Mr. Ball suffered an on-the-job injury, reported it, and was placed on light duty. During the worker’s compensation process a dispute arose regarding the extent of his injury and need for medical care. Ultimately, he was terminated in violation of the company policies. Doyle Dennis LLP’s represented Mr. Ball at trial, and the Jury then awarded Mr. Ball $1,706,187 in damages, including $164,168, in past lost wages, $675,519 in future lost wages, $100,000 in past mental anguish, $16,500 in future mental anguish, and $750,000 in punitive damages. On June 3, 2021, the 14th Court of Appeals unanimously affirmed this verdict. Alleyton Res. Co. v. Ball, No. 14-19-00816-CV2021, Tex. App. LEXIS 4324 (Tex. App.-Houston [14th Dist.] June 3, 2021, pet pending).
Similarly, in Salas v. Fluor Daniel Servs. Corp., 616 S.W.3d 137 (Tex. App.-Houston [14th Dist.] 2020, pet. denied), Doyle Dennis LLP achieved an important win for injured workers who have been terminated. Specifically, the Houston Court of Appeals found that Section 451.001 protects employees who institute proceedings – meaning, reporting a worker’s compensation injury and receiving medical treatment – even when the employee has not yet filed the official claim paperwork. This decision effectively closed a dangerous loophole that employers had utilized to terminate injured workers. As a result, employers in the state of Texas cannot terminate an injured employee preemptively before the employee has the chance to file a worker’s compensation claim.
If you are an employee of a pipeline facility who has been retaliated against, please contact us today for a free consultation.
