A customer service specialist falls off a ladder while performing his job and breaks a rib. Another has a ladder accident that requires knee surgery. Someone else smashes a finger while repairing a cable and another employee sprains a shoulder after slipping on ice. These are just some of the job-related injuries reported by employees of the Ohio Bell Telephone Company (a division of AT&T) from 2011 to 2013.
According to the rules of the Ohio Bureau of Workers Compensation (BWC), which of the following should they do?
- Report the injury to their supervisors immediately
- File for workers’ compensation
- Make sure their supervisors do not find out about the accident
Thirteen injured Ohio Bell employees did the right thing and followed the first and second steps, only to be disciplined and suspended without pay for several days. As a result, the U.S. Department of Labor is suing the company for unlawful workers comp retaliation. Companies may not like it when repeated accident reports threaten their workplace safety status, but the U.S. District Court in Cleveland does not like it when a business tries to prevent workers from exercising their legal rights. And, as the assistant secretary of labor pointed out, “AT&T must understand that by discouraging workers from reporting injuries, it increases the likelihood of more workers being injured in the future.”
Ohio Bell defended their actions by claiming the employees were injured because they violated company safety standards. However, there are only a few circumstances in which Ohio BWC might reject a workers’ compensation claim, for instance, if the injury was self-inflicted or the employee was intoxicated.
If you have questions about getting compensation for a job-related injury, make an appointment with a good workers compensation lawyer. You have the legal right to speak up if you notice safety problems in your workplace, and you also have the right to receive the maximum amount of benefits that you are entitled to.