LOIS Partner Meisha Powell and LOIS Paralegal Karen Olarte prevailed on discrimination in a New York Workers’ Compensation claim after waging an aggressive defense. The claim involves a claimant, who alleged termination in retaliation for threatening to file a workers’ compensation claim. The claimant initially asserted a back injury from heavy labor and pursued a workers’ compensation case, and thereafter filed a separate discrimination action claiming the employer laid him off solely because he was injured and planned to file a claim. During trial, Attorney Powell secured testimony demonstrating that the layoff was not retaliatory but instead the result of routine weather-relational shutdowns affecting the entire workforce. Evidence from both the claimant and employer witnesses confirmed that the job site closed annually during winter conditions, making claimant’s allegations unfounded.
In her Decision, the Law Judge emphasized that the claimant bore the burden of proving a causal link between his termination and his workers’ compensation, a burden he failed to meet. The court found ample evidence of a legitimate reason for the layoff, and all employees were released due to weather. The claimant could not be rehired when work resumed because his doctors declared him totally disabled, and the seasonal shutdown was standard practice. Ultimately, the Law Judge dismissed the discrimination action, concluding it lacked merit and appeared to be an attempt to bolster the claimant’s workers compensation case. Through diligent advocacy, LOIS eliminated the employer’s potential exposure to reinstatement, back pay, and penalties.
