How much time do I have to sue for wrongfull termination?

[JPearson]

What is the name of your state? california.

I was injured on the job and required surgery to repair an abdominal hernia.
After about 8 days my boss was at my front door telling me that if I did not
get in my truck and get back to work he was going to give my truck to someone else and when I finnaly do show up there might not be a truck available for me. So I did what he told me to do, I got dressed and got in my truck and went back to work. After a short while (7-10days) , while at work performing my usual duties, my stitches opened up and my intestines began forcing out of my abdomin causing a large bulge in my abdomin. When I told my boss about it he shruged it off like it was no big deal. However, that night while I was at home sleeping he had my truck picked up from in front of my house and taken back to the shop. When I called the office to see what happened to the truck I was told that I was fired for stealing. He claimed he knew nothing about any re-injury and stuck to his story that I was fired for stealing. I want to sue him for what he has done to me, but I may have waited too long to act. My workmans comp case is still active and I am still on temp. total disabillity. I feel I was wrongfully terminated, slandered, and he was negligent forcing me back to work before I had fully recovered. What can I do? Who can help me? How much time do I have to sue for wrongfull terminatiom?

 

[pojo2]

How much money were you making that made it worth risking your life for to go back WAY before you were capable?

I would love to hear the other side of this story.

 

[cbg]

How long ago did this happen?

 

[JPearson]

reply to "When did this happen?"

The "Date of Injury" that appears on my check stubs is 08/15/01

 

[JPearson]

Reply to polo2

To answer your question, I was taking home an average of $1200/week however at the time this incident happened I was making up to $2000.00/week. But that's not why I went back to work. Let me explain a little. We, as technicians, are given a truck to use. We take this truck home each nite and all of our tools are kept in the truck. We are reponsible for the stock in the truck and the condition of the truck. There are no extra trucks. I thought that if my boss gave my truck to someone else I would be out of work for an unknown amount of time and I could'nt let that happen because my wife was6 months pregnant and I had bills to pay. Also at that time I had not recieved any money from insurance yet. It was not untill I hired a lawyer
that I began to get temp. total dis. . Also , I know ignorance is no excuse but I had never been injured before and I was not aware that I needed to have my doctors ok to go back to work. I guess I am partly responsible for what happened but I would never have gone back at that time had my boss not knocked on my door. As far as wanting to hear the other side of the story, why do you think I am not telling the truth? What good would it do to lie to people I'm asking for advise, anonymously?

 

[cbg]

Yes, you've waited too long.

You can give your state a call just on the off-chance that workers compensation cases have a longer SOL than most, but I wouldn't hold my breath. There is more than one kind of of wrongful termination and the length of time you have to file varies with the type, but off the top of my head, barring a state law that says otherwise, I can't think of any that give you more than two years.

 

[JPearson]

Reply toCBG

Thank you for your reply. Does the fact that my workman's comp. case is still active . I have not been declared permanent and stationary yet. The second operation was unsuccessful and now I have to go see some kind of specialist in near L.A.(130 miles away) to undergo yet another operation. In the meantime I am in constant pain and cannot even lift a gallon of milk. This has dragged out for 4 years and has caused me a lot of problems. Try staying home with your wife 24hrs/7days a week for 4 years and see what happens. So to get back on track, because my case is ongoing is it still to late to file?

 

[cbg]

Unless your state law says otherwise, it doesn't go by when your case is closed but when you were terminated. Based on that, yes, it would still be too late to file.

 

[JPearson]

o.k. , so what about the fact that I'm on temp. total dis. right now and on each check I receive it clearly states "Employee" ..my name,
"Employer"...my employers name. Because the Employer fired me in an attempt to avoid my workman's comp. claim, it seems like the insurance company is ignoring the fact that I was fired. Does my employer need to offer me my job back when I am back to working status?

 

[cbg]

That depends on your state law. I very much doubt that your employer has to create a new job for you if he has no openings when you are able to return to work. However, some states require that IF he has an opening for which you are qualified AND which is within any restrictions you may have, that he has to give you preference in hiring for that opening. I don't know if CA is one of those states but based on my knowledge of CA law overall, I strongly suspect that it is.

BTW, I am making no judgement as to whether or not you would have had a viable case if you had NOT waited too long. I am simply saying that you have missed the window to try.

 

[JPearson]

Thanks for all the input.

To all of you who took the time to reply to this post I would like to say, "Thank you "
It most likely is too late for me to initiate a wrongful termination lawsuit due too time restrictions and deadlines. I am hoping that this post will help someone else avoid making the same mistake..

Good luck to all,
J.P.