Feb 20, 2020

Will I Be Fired After Hiring a Workers’ Compensation Attorney?

Everyone has the right to legal representation, including injured workers. Sadly, many of these individuals are afraid to seek the help of a workers’ compensation attorney because they fear termination from their employer.

This can prevent them from obtaining the help of an attorney who can help them pursue the maximum benefits they need to recover. If this is the case for you, remember that you do have legal rights moving forward.

Georgia’s Termination Laws

In Georgia, employers have the right to terminate workers “at will” — this means that they may legally terminate an employee for “good cause, bad cause, or no cause at all” so long as it is not an illegal cause.

Unfortunately, this means there is no direct law to prevent an employer from terminating an employee for hiring an attorney.

However, most of the time, it’s not in an employer’s best interest to fire an employee for filing a workers’ compensation claim. There are two main reasons for this:

1. Your employer knows that you already hired an attorney for one legal issue. This means there’s a good chance that you are more likely to hire an attorney if they violated the law by terminating you. Employers will probably want to avoid the possibility of an additional claim.

2. Most of the time, it can hurt your employer in your workers’ comp case by firing you. One of the main ways that employers try to pay less in workers’ comp is by bringing you back to work. If they fire you, they lose the chance to do this.

Protecting Your Rights to Compensation

Georgia’s State Board of Workers’ Compensation states that “Everyone has the right to represent him or herself. … You may need help from a lawyer in order to present your claim properly.” We firmly believe this to be true.

If you believe you were terminated because you hired a workers’ compensation attorney, the first thing you should do is contact an attorney with experience handling these types of cases. Our attorneys will work as your legal advocates to ensure that you receive the full amount of compensation that you deserve.

If you have any other questions about workers’ compensation benefits or if you need help filing a claim, the Atlanta workers’ compensation attorneys at The Law Offices of Nathanial F. Hansford are here for you.

Contact our firm at (770) 741-2825 to schedule your free case review.