“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
Filing a workers' comp claim is your legal right under California law. Retaliating against you for exercising that right is illegal under Labor Code section 132a. Yet retaliation happens regularly in Tehachapi's two dominant industries — and the isolation of this mountain community makes it harder for workers to fight back. Wind energy companies operating along the Tehachapi Pass pressure injured technicians to return before they are medically cleared, assign them to undesirable shifts, exclude them from overtime rotations, and in some cases terminate them outright after a workers' comp filing. At California Correctional Institution (CCI), officers who file claims for assault injuries or psychiatric conditions report being transferred to more dangerous housing units, denied promotional opportunities, subjected to excessive administrative scrutiny, and ostracized by management.
LC section 132a provides powerful remedies for retaliation. An injured worker who proves retaliation is entitled to reinstatement, back pay, increased compensation of up to $10,000, and reimbursement of costs and attorney fees. These penalties are assessed directly against the employer — not the insurance company — which is why retaliation claims carry significant leverage. The employer faces personal financial consequences for illegal conduct.
Attorney Eman Yazdchi's firm represents Tehachapi workers who have been retaliated against for filing workers' comp claims. We prosecute LC section 132a petitions at the Bakersfield WCAB, building the evidentiary record that connects the employer's adverse actions to the protected activity of filing a claim. In a community where employers know everyone and alternative employment options are scarce, having a firm that aggressively pursues retaliation is the only effective deterrent.
Labor Code section 132a declares it the policy of California that workers should not be discriminated against for filing or intending to file a workers' compensation claim. The statute covers a broad range of retaliatory conduct and provides specific remedies that go beyond what the workers' comp system normally awards.
Retaliation is any adverse employment action taken because the worker filed, threatened to file, or testified in a workers' comp proceeding. In Tehachapi, the most common forms we see include:
Wind farm operators — including major companies like Vestas, Goldwind, and GE along with their subcontractors on the Cameron Ridge project and other Tehachapi Pass installations — face pressure to maintain low experience modification rates (EMRs) that keep their insurance premiums down. Every workers' comp claim raises the EMR. This creates a systemic incentive to discourage claims. Supervisors pressure technicians to treat injuries as personal health matters rather than filing DWC-1 forms. Workers who do file are subtly punished — reassigned to ground duties that eliminate overtime opportunities, given negative performance reviews, or simply not called back for the next project rotation.
Correctional officers at CCI who file workers' comp claims — particularly psychiatric injury claims — face a culture that sometimes views claim filing as weakness. Officers report being transferred to higher-risk assignments, passed over for promotions, and subjected to internal investigations after filing. The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) is a large bureaucracy, and retaliatory actions can be disguised as routine administrative decisions. We document the temporal connection between the claim filing and the adverse action, compare the treatment of the claiming officer to non-claiming peers, and build the circumstantial evidence that proves retaliatory intent at the Bakersfield WCAB.
Injured at work in Tehachapi? Call (661) 273-1780
Tap to call →Preserve all evidence of retaliation: emails, text messages, shift schedules, performance reviews (before and after claim filing), witness statements from coworkers, and any written communications from supervisors. The temporal connection between your claim filing and the adverse action is critical evidence. Do not resign — termination by the employer strengthens your LC section 132a case.
LC section 132a petitions are filed at the same Bakersfield WCAB district office that handles your underlying workers' comp claim. The petition is heard by a workers' compensation judge, and the burden is on you to prove that the adverse action was motivated by your claim filing. We handle all filings, discovery, and trial preparation.
Ready to discuss your case? Schedule a free consultation.
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