If you receive a bad performance review after you report a work injury, you may need some legal advice. This blog reviews a few of the topics you can discuss with a workers’ compensation attorney.
Return to Work After Your Injury
Your lawyer will ask you about your initial work injury, including what happened, medical treatment, how you reported the injury to your employer, and its reaction when you made the report. Bring paperwork to your consultation, such as doctor’s notes, the bad performance review, and any forms you received from the workers’ compensation insurance company.
Discuss your return to work after the injury. You may have lingering medical problems or permanent physical restrictions. If you had discussions with your employer about how to address the restrictions at work, keep a log detailing the date, time, and substance of those discussions. This could help your lawyer later on. Further, consider whether you feel that you returned to work too early after your injury, leading to trouble doing your job.
Modifying Your Restrictions
Since you received a poor performance review, it is possible that your restrictions are too general or not strict enough. You may be performing poorly because of your workplace injury. If you think that might be the case, you should return to your doctor and discuss aspects of your job that are difficult due to your injury. Your doctor may decide to modify your restrictions to make them more specific or stricter. Different restrictions could correct your performance issues.
Possible Retaliation
Talk to your lawyer about whether your bad performance review could be a sign of retaliation for reporting the injury or seeking workers’ compensation benefits. If you had only positive performance reviews until immediately after the injury, retaliation or discrimination are possibilities.
Minnesota law prohibits discharge or threatened discharge of employees for seeking workers’ compensation. It also prohibits intentional obstruction of employees seeking benefits. If you suspect that your employer is setting you up for termination by giving you a bad review, your attorney can suggest next steps.
Need help getting workers’ compensation for your injury? Joe Osterbauer, Esq. and the Osterbauer Law Firm stand up for injured Minnesota workers’ rights. Joe’s 27 years of workers’ compensation experience and his team’s speedy service combine to get clients the results they need. To schedule a free consultation, visit Osterbauer Law Firm online or call Joe’s office at (612) 334-3434.
