Can My Employer Use The Fact I Was Terminated Due To My Accident At Work As The Basis For Refusing To Pay Disability Checks For My Workers’ Compensation Claim?

This issue was addressed by the North Carolina Court of Appeals in Richards v. Harris Teeter (2022).

This case involved an employee who was a truck driver for his employer, who was involved in a single vehicle accident when his truck ran off the road. Approximately three weeks after this accident the injured employee was terminated by his employer, based on what his employer noted were violations of safety procedures that involved the injured employee’s motor vehicle accident. The employer contended that they had a mandatory return to work program for any workers’ compensation injuries and noted numerous positions the injured employee could have continued to perform for them, if not for his termination. The employer argued that this constituted a “constructive refusal of employment” and based on this the injured employee should not be entitled to receive weekly disability checks for the time period his treating doctor allowed him to return to work under assigned work restrictions.

The North Carolina Court of Appeals ruled that an employer cannot argue for “constructive refusal of employment” when the basis for the termination was the very accident which gave rise to the injured employee’s workers’ compensation claim. The injured employee was awarded weekly disability checks for his lost time from work.

Should you have any questions about this or any of issues involving your work-related injury, please feel free to reach out to one of the Board Certified Workers’ Compensation Specialists at Cardinal Law Partners for a free consultation by calling (833) 444-4127.