“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
Saugus runs on service workers. The restaurants along Bouquet Canyon Road, the retail stores throughout the commercial corridors, the grocery chains, and the healthcare facilities all depend on hourly employees who show up every shift and do physically demanding work. When these workers get hurt on the job and file for the benefits they are legally owed, some employers respond with retaliation. They cut hours. They reassign workers to undesirable shifts. They manufacture performance issues. They fire the worker outright. Under California Labor Code Section 132a, every one of these actions is illegal, and the penalties are severe.
Labor Code Section 132a is explicit: it is unlawful for any employer to discharge, threaten to discharge, or discriminate against any employee because that employee has filed or made known their intention to file a workers' compensation claim. The statute does not require that the employer state their motive openly. Retaliation is proven through the timing, circumstances, and pattern of the employer's conduct.
Common forms of retaliation that Saugus service workers experience include termination shortly after filing a claim or returning from injury leave, reduction of work hours after the worker reports a workplace injury, reassignment to less desirable shifts or positions, denial of a previously promised promotion or raise, creation of a hostile work environment designed to force the worker to quit, fabrication of performance issues that did not exist before the claim was filed, and threats from supervisors or managers warning the worker about consequences of pursuing the claim.
Each of these actions, when connected to the worker's exercise of their right to file a workers' comp claim, constitutes a violation of Section 132a. The worker does not need to prove the retaliation was the only reason for the adverse action. If the workers' comp claim was a substantial motivating factor, the employer has violated the law.
The service industry creates conditions that make retaliation both more likely and harder for workers to fight. Understanding why it happens so frequently in Saugus requires looking at the economic dynamics of the restaurant, retail, and healthcare sectors.
Most Saugus service workers are at-will employees, meaning they can be terminated for any lawful reason or no reason at all. Employers exploit the ambiguity of at-will employment to disguise retaliation as a routine business decision. A restaurant on Bouquet Canyon Road fires a server two weeks after she files a workers' comp claim and claims it was due to "restructuring." A retail store reduces a stocker's hours from 35 per week to 12 after he reports a back injury and calls it a "scheduling adjustment." Without legal representation, these workers have no way to challenge the pretextual explanations.
Small businesses and franchise operations, which make up a large portion of Saugus's commercial landscape, have additional incentives to retaliate. Their workers' comp insurance premiums increase when claims are filed, so some owners view discouraging or punishing claims as a cost-control measure. This calculation is both illegal and short-sighted, because the penalties for retaliation under Section 132a often exceed the cost of the underlying claim.
Part-time and hourly workers are the most vulnerable targets. A full-time salaried employee with documentation, performance reviews, and institutional knowledge may be difficult to fire without raising suspicion. A part-time cashier or dishwasher with no written employment agreement and no performance documentation can be let go with almost no paper trail. These workers need legal representation to establish the retaliatory motive and pursue the penalties the law provides.
Section 132a provides substantial remedies for workers who prove retaliation. These include reinstatement to the position the worker held before the retaliatory action, back pay for all wages lost as a result of the termination or hours reduction, an increase of compensation up to $10,000 as a penalty against the employer, and costs and expenses incurred in bringing the 132a claim.
These remedies are in addition to the underlying workers' comp benefits. If you were fired for filing a claim and your claim is also accepted, you receive both the workers' comp benefits (medical treatment, temporary disability, permanent disability) and the 132a penalties (reinstatement, back pay, increased compensation). The two proceedings run in parallel at the Van Nuys WCAB.
It is important to note that a 132a petition must be filed within one year of the discriminatory act. If you were fired, demoted, or had your hours cut in retaliation for a workers' comp claim, the clock is running. Delay can forfeit your right to pursue the retaliation claim even if the underlying workers' comp claim is still active.
Proving retaliation requires evidence connecting the adverse employment action to the workers' comp claim. The strongest evidence is timing. If you were fired within days or weeks of filing your claim, that proximity creates a strong inference of retaliatory motive. But timing alone may not be sufficient, which is why documentation is critical.
Keep records of any communications from your employer regarding your injury or claim. Text messages from a manager suggesting you should not file, emails discussing your work restrictions, written warnings that appeared only after you reported your injury, and testimony from coworkers who witnessed supervisory statements about the claim are all valuable evidence.
Compare your treatment before and after the claim. If you had positive performance reviews, regular hours, and no disciplinary history before filing your workers' comp claim, and then suddenly faced write-ups, schedule cuts, and termination afterward, the contrast supports an inference of retaliation.
Yazdchi Law investigates retaliation claims for Saugus service workers by gathering employment records, interviewing witnesses, and building a documentary case that establishes the connection between the workers' comp filing and the employer's adverse action. Attorney Eman Yazdchi files and litigates Section 132a petitions at the Van Nuys WCAB alongside the underlying workers' comp claim.
Injured at work in Saugus? Call (661) 273-1780
Tap to call →Retaliation cases are contested litigation. Employers hire defense attorneys who will argue that the termination or discipline was justified on performance grounds, and the burden of proving retaliatory motive falls on the worker. Eman Yazdchi is a Board-Certified Workers' Compensation Specialist, a credential held by fewer than 1% of California attorneys. This certification reflects demonstrated expertise in all aspects of workers' comp law, including Section 132a retaliation claims. For Saugus service workers who have been punished for exercising their legal rights, a Board-Certified Specialist provides the litigation skill needed to hold employers accountable.
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