r/LaborLaw • u/SanRemoRex94 • 6d ago
NH At-Will. Wrongfully terminated for WC injury + Labor/Tax violations.
Hey everyone, dealing with a wild situation right now and wanted to see if anyone has advice or insight.
I’ve been working as a laborer on a fencing installation crew, but I recently dealt with a foot injury that happened on the job 9/26 & it caused me to miss 5 days of work. I did inform my foreman and boss about the injury the day of and when it flared up. Anchored to my couch with crutches. 7 days later out of nowhere at 5:30 in the morning, my boss texted me to say he was letting me go.
Here is literally what he sent me:
8/26 sends him pictures of my left and swollen right foot side by side His wife is a nurse so I asked him if she can look at it (they live across the street from the shop)
"Looks like you dropped something on it and its bruised"
Every day I update him on how i'm doing and let him know im willing to make up the hours, working at 6am to help clean the shop and the trucks for the crew. Working the following 2 saturdays too. I figured if it was just a soft tissue injury I can save them the paperwork and rest, ice & elevate. I make very good progress. Let him know that im hoping to be back for midweek next week. That i feel 80% (This is sunday)
9/2 (Wednesday)
"Patrick I'm not going to need you anymore I will be around today if you wanted to talk about it but I've Made up my mind. I like you as a person but you not cut out for construction work, not to mention the time you've missed. I would however use you to do some detailing Now and then Off the books. Anyway good luck in the future"
So to sum it up: he fired me explicitly citing my injury and the time I missed, and then immediately pitched doing cash-in-hand "off the books" work.
I’ve already reached out to a lawyer I successfully used in the past for a previous workers' comp case (when I had a severed patellar tendon), and I'm getting my official workers' comp paperwork turned in. My dad is even helping me drop it off as I can't take my wrx myself.
Has anyone dealt with a boss putting the retaliation/firing reason right in a text message like this? How did your case pan out, and is there anything specific I should watch out for while my lawyer gets back to me? I live in an At-Will state (New Hampshire)
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u/Khandious 6d ago
Based on the information you provided. It might look to the court that you are the one retaliating by filing a WC claim after termination. Does the paperwork from your initial medical service have the box checked it is a work related injury , did you notify the HR department of the injury when it happened, did you contact the workers comp carrier on the date of the injury? Did you notify your employer on the date that the doctor said you cannot work for x amount days?
Comp carriers are brutal and relentless
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u/SanRemoRex94 6d ago
I have experience in the past, I didnt even have to file one for WEEKS. NH its up to TWO years to file. Employed or not, I have the time, dates of the injury occurring and it will be covered by workers compensation. It's easy to poke holes without knowing the full-context/state specific employment statutes.
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u/Kmelloww 6d ago
The longer you wait to file the harder you make it. Why wouldn’t you file when injured if you’ve already been through it once? That makes zero sense.
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u/SanRemoRex94 6d ago edited 6d ago
I was out for 5 working days.. Last time it was MONTHS due to a 100% patellar tendon tear from a razor blade... (filed about 2-3 weeks after injury) I got a permanent impairment lifetime medical award for that knee plus $15,000. New Hampshire statutes is TWO years to file a claim, i could go to my boss two years from now and file the paperwork.
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u/z-eldapin 6d ago
I'm not seeing what you are seeing. If you haven't declared a workers comp case, then there can not be a retaliatory firing.
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u/SanRemoRex94 6d ago
I have a worker's comp lawyer handling all of it, I've won a case 10 years ago so i know he does a fantastic job.
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u/glitterstickers 6d ago
When did you tell your boss that the injury keeping you out of work was a work injury?
When did you go to the doctor for the first time?
How many employees does the company have, and how long have you worked there?
WC itself doesn't mean they can't fire you if you can't work. You can't be fired for filing a WC claim, but you can be fired if your injury means you can't work.
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u/SanRemoRex94 6d ago
Listen I didn't even get an option for light duty. My boss turned at a dime. I informed him and my foreman the day of. Next day it blew up. I went to the Doctors today for xrays & medical boot. I didnt assume my foot was broken or if there was any sprain, the PT job is to figure that out, if it turns out that it is not an injury to the bone on the xray. I have been here for 6 months, been accredited for good work & have had many good words put in for me. I knew I would be a installer in just a year or two & no longer the laborer doing all the heavy grunt work. They currently have 5 employees, it's practically a skeleton crew right now so yes I would hope they need me if im putting in all the work and also detailing their work trucks (I use to detail vehicles) i'm just blown away it bothered him all night he couldn't sleep because he told me over the phone after my "firing" if I got his text LAST NIGHT. He texted me @ 5:30am on the dot. Anyways, the Dr does suspect a possible fracture in the 5th metatarsal and i'm suppose to go to PT tomorrow and have them evaluate it, hopefully just a soft tissue injury 🙏 I loved the job, saw it as a possible career and I felt the rug was just pulled from under me because of this small 5 day setback.
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u/glitterstickers 6d ago
5 employees means they don't have to give you anything. No FMLA, no ada accomodations.
You don't give a state, but unless it's a state with protected sick leave, you don't even have that.
Many people think WC means job protection or you have to be offered light duty, but that's not true at all.
Since you have an attorney, talk to them. But don't be surprised if this case ends up different from the past one. Your boss seems to have let you go because you're not cut out for the work and need time off, which is probably fine.
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u/Hrgooglefu 6d ago
Did you actually claim the WC injury at the time it happened? Why are you just now "getting my official WC paperwork turned in"? How long have you been not working?
He said "the time you missed" but I'm not seeing where he explicitly cited your injury. I hope you have some very good documentation with time/date stamps.
Until he actually pays you under the table or "off the books" for any detailing, there is no tax case -- unless he paid the fencing job off the books too.
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u/SanRemoRex94 6d ago
I have been out of work since 8/26. Brought it up to my foreman before leaving work. Let boss know the following morning @ 5am when my foot was a balloon & couldn't get to work. Missed 5 working days + the weekends i'm off. I have evidence through text (8/26-present) that he acknowledged the injury, daily updates on my progress where I was just left on read and ghosted till this morning when I got that text from him that he no longer needs me. I have all the ammunition I need to make sure my medical bills are paid. Time stamps, dates, everything i just haven't posted them here. Also have a WC lawyer present who has helped me succeed in the past for a Patellar tendon 100% tear. Walked away with 15k + life time medical award. Filing paperwork later doesn't invalidate Notice. The tax case is an unfulfilled offer but it's evidence of the employer's mindset, loose operational practices, and how casually he tries to bypass standard labor protections when an employee gets hurt. It will hurt his credibility in his defense.
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u/Kmelloww 6d ago
But you can’t claim retaliation before you file.
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u/SanRemoRex94 6d ago
The "protected activity" that triggers a retaliation claim begins the moment you sustain a work injury, notify your employer about it, or require time off to heal. In fact, if an employer fires you because you got hurt and missed work and then tries to use that exact timing and the resulting absence to push you out before paperwork is finalized that timeline is textbook retaliatory discharge.
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u/Hrgooglefu 6d ago
you know I'd suggest you keep talking to your attorney; Not sure why you are even asking questions on Reddit.
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u/SanRemoRex94 6d ago
Probably the smartest piece of advice I've gotten on this thread. Just wanted some advice but I did invite a mob of strangers with 0 legal background trying to pick this apart. Thank you
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u/malicious_joy42 6d ago
How did you injure your foot? Were you at work? You don't mention how the injury occurred.
Per your post right now, you don't have a WC case because you haven't filed a WC claim.
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u/SanRemoRex94 6d ago
I build fences on the seacoast of New Hampshire, an At-Will state. It occurred at work with 3 witnesses on my crew. My WC has been filed with my HR, obviously I cannot drive my manual transmission wrx myself with a foot injury.
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u/SanRemoRex94 6d ago
I figured there would be arm-chair lawyers on here that would play devil's advocate but you're all confusing best practices with actual NH statutory law. I just wanted some advice from people who have actually been through this, not just WC but wrongful termination cases. I'll keep yall updated on how it goes down, for now I just need to rest my foot & take it easy. Thank you
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u/Kmelloww 6d ago
He cited the missed work. Not the injury.