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Termination due to short term injury?

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molecular

Junior Member
What is the name of your state?I live in Arizona and was recently injured on the job resulting in two fractured lumbar vertebrae. The doctors ordered me on highly restricted light duty consisting of, no standing or walking for more than five moniutes at a time due to the severity of the pain.
My company initially stated "We have no such things as light duty" This impart because I am an electrician in the construction field and this requires alot of physical activity.

The day before i would become eligable for workers compoensation i was called by my employer saying they had light duty. I agreed to come into work only to find out that it would involve standing for long periods of time. I was also allowed to sit on a paint bucket for part of the time, which still didnt help due to a bucket not having any lower back support. Needless to say i was in severe pain and after a few hours i could not tak it anymore.

I asked to go home and immediatly called my medical provider and told them the story. I was informed that i had to adhere to the doctors orders regardless of what my employer requested.
I told my employer and gave him a modified activity report from my doctor stating all these limitations which included in bold letter "sedentary work only"

I sayed home another week, also continuing to goto my medical appointments etc.. I hace been out of work for about 4 weeks now and had not recieved any of my compensation. When i call the compensation provider they said there was an issue with my employer, which she couldnt explain.
Upon calling my employer i was told i had been terminated for being uncooperative, and not going to work as i should (which was against doctors orders for what they were having me do) My employer stated " What else could i have done, we have deadlines to meet on our project and work that needs to be done."

Is it legal to fire me for following doctors orders?

I know you can be fired with an injury In the same way a non injured employee would be for missing the same amount of days but what about the family medical leave act?

Thanks in advance

Nick C.
Tucson Arizona
 


Beth3

Senior Member
Nick, I strongly urge you to consult with an attorney specializing in worker's compensation asap. In addition to needing assistance to get indemnity payments from the WC carrier going, I suspect you may also have a wrongful termination claim to bring against the employer under WC statutes.
 

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