“Eman at Yazdchi Law was extremely professional, responsive, and supportive at all times. He and his staff exceeded all of my expectations.”
Andrea Dalessandro
✦ Board-Certified Specialist in Workers’ Compensation Law — State Bar of California ✦
Your employer cannot punish you for getting hurt. If they did, we’ll make them pay.
By Eman Yazdchi, Esq. · Certified Specialist in Workers' Compensation Law
In San Bernardino's warehouse district, injured workers face a cruel choice that no California law was supposed to permit: file your workers' comp claim and risk your job, or keep your mouth shut and suffer in silence. The logistics companies clustered around the I-10 and I-215 interchange depend on a steady supply of able-bodied workers who can be cycled through demanding physical roles. When a worker files an injury claim, that worker becomes a liability on the company's loss runs, a drag on the department's safety metrics, and a candidate for elimination. The termination that follows may be dressed up as a "performance issue" or a "restructuring," but the timing tells the real story. This is workers' comp retaliation, and California law prohibits it with teeth.
Labor Code section 132a makes it a misdemeanor for any employer to discharge, threaten to discharge, or in any manner discriminate against an employee because that employee filed or made known their intention to file a workers' compensation claim. The remedies are meaningful: reinstatement to the former position, reimbursement of lost wages and benefits up to $10,000, a $10,000 penalty payable to the injured worker, and increased compensation of up to half the value of the underlying disability award. These remedies exist precisely because the Legislature recognized that without strong anti-retaliation protections, the entire workers' compensation system collapses. Workers who fear losing their jobs will not file claims, and employers who face no consequences for retaliation will keep doing it.
San Bernardino's logistics industry presents a particularly hostile environment for injured workers who assert their rights. Many warehouse workers are employed through temporary staffing agencies, which makes retaliation easier to disguise. The staffing agency does not fire the worker. It simply ends the "assignment," with no new placement offered and no explanation given. The worker is effectively terminated without the employer ever using that word. Others are employed directly but work in at-will environments where supervisors have broad discretion to reduce hours, change shifts, or issue disciplinary write-ups. When those adverse actions follow a workers' comp filing, the retaliatory motive is often obvious to everyone except the employer's HR department.
Eman Yazdchi, our lead attorney and a Board-Certified Specialist in Workers' Compensation Law, has represented San Bernardino workers targeted for retaliation after filing legitimate injury claims. He handles both the underlying workers' compensation case and the 132a retaliation petition, ensuring that both tracks are coordinated for maximum effect. Our firm communicates in English, Spanish, and Farsi, and we charge no fee unless we recover benefits and penalties for you.
Proving retaliation requires connecting the dots between a protected activity and an adverse employment action. The employer will never admit the connection. Instead, they will produce documentation, often created after the fact, that purports to justify the termination or discipline on non-retaliatory grounds. Our firm knows how to challenge that documentation. We obtain complete personnel files, performance reviews, attendance records, and disciplinary histories. We compare the treatment of the injured worker to the treatment of similarly situated employees who did not file claims. We depose supervisors and HR representatives to expose inconsistencies in their stated justifications.
At the San Bernardino WCAB District Office, where 132a petitions are heard alongside the underlying workers' comp case, we present a clear narrative: the worker was performing adequately before the injury, the employer's conduct changed after the claim was filed, and the stated reasons for the adverse action are pretextual. This straightforward framework, supported by solid documentation, is how retaliation cases are won.
Injured at work in San Bernardino? Call (661) 273-1780
Tap to call →If you have been retaliated against for filing a workers' comp claim, contact our firm immediately. Retaliation claims require timely action to preserve evidence, including personnel records, text messages, emails, and witness accounts that may disappear over time. We evaluate your situation during a free consultation and, if the evidence supports a retaliation claim, file a Labor Code section 132a petition with the San Bernardino WCAB District Office. From there, we build the evidentiary record through written discovery, depositions, and subpoenaed employment records. If successful, you may recover reinstatement, back pay, increased compensation, and the statutory penalty. Our fee is contingent on recovery, meaning you pay nothing unless we win.
Ready to discuss your case? Schedule a free consultation.
Schedule Free ConsultationRead more testimonials →“Eman at Yazdchi Law was extremely professional, responsive, and supportive at all times. He and his staff exceeded all of my expectations.”