A New York appellate court affirmed a decision from the state’s Workers’ Compensation Board that an employer violated New York Workers’ Comp Law (anti-retaliation statute) by firing an employee for disclosing that they intended to file a claim related to a slip and fall injury at work.

The worker was the general manager overseeing an automobile dealership. He sustained multiple injuries when he slipped and fell on ice as he exited a car at the dealership. He was hospitalized for several days, went back to work and was fired ten days later. He testified that two days before he was fired, he told executive management that he would be filing a claim. He had torn his shoulder in the fall and would need surgery. The employee said the manager became angry, “marched off” and made a phone call.

He assumed he would be fired because in the past he had been directed by the owner to fire other employees who had taken time off for vacations or medical reasons. The dealership’s sales manager testified that he overhead the exchange and corroborated with his co-worker. The employee said the owner told him they were “moving in a different direction” and did not mention the employee’s work performance.

The executive manager testified that he never “marched off” and claimed the employee’s firing was due to many shortcomings in his performance. No records of these incidents of deficiencies were found and the worker testified that he had never been made aware of any complaints. The sales manager testified he was unaware of any problems with the employee’s job performance. The Board said the only documentation they found that alluded to poor performance had been created by the employer after his termination. The Board found that the employer violated the anti-retaliation statute and the court supported their findings.

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