Work Comp/Retaliation

NancyJo

We hired a driver who worked for 2-1/2 weeks and had a slip and fall injury at a fueling island. He sprained his right ankle and was taken off work. He has now been off for two months and is expected to return next week. During this time, he has called our office, the insurance adjustor, the insurance company's corporate headquarters, etc. He is constantly looking for money. His WC checks are sent weekly but haven't always arrived on the day he thinks they should. He even called the Postmaster of his home town to complain. He is rude and demanding to all parties called. Unfortunately, our operations manager forgot to shut off his fuel card when he was injured. He took $400.00 in advances before we discovered it and shut off the card. I would like to terminate him for gross misconduct (misappropriation of company funds) as no one is to take an advance unless they are working. In addition, I now have reason to suspect he may have falsified his application. He is not an employee I wish to retain, but I have concerns about "retaliation" for work comp. I'm interested to know if anyone else has had a similar experience? Thank you!

Down_the_Middle

Isn't this normally the way things happen?!@#$%? Before you charge forward with termination, I'd first of all confirm whether he had been given authority to spend the $400; then ask him about it. He owes you an explanation and you should use that in your decision of how to deal with this. If he has an acceptable reason and offers to re-pay the $'s, you might discipline him, but not discharge him. The fear of w/c retaliation is understandable, but it's not bullet-proof. If you find cause to discharge him, then your documentation should support this and you proceed accordingly. I would suggest dealing with the issues at present (vs. "piling on" with other issues that have not yet been addressed with him.) Hitting him with lots of other "junk" will give the appearance you're blanketing him and generally, that raises red flags to w/c judges and juries. Be comfortable that there's no basis for "he got fired for filing a comp claim".