Can a Company Retaliate Against a Worker for Filing a Workers Compensation Claim in Nevada?

Posted on October 27, 2021

Can I be fired or demoted for bringing a workers' compensation claim in Nevada?

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Employers with 15 or more employees are not allowed to fire or otherwise retaliate against employees for filing for workers’ compensation benefits under Nevada state law. Employees who lose their job just for pursuing a workers comp claim can sue the employer for wrongful termination in Nevada.¹

Is Nevada an at-will employment state?

Yes. This means that employers can terminate their employees at any time for any reason, but there are exceptions. For example, employers are not allowed to retaliate against workers who filed for workers’ compensation insurance benefits.²

What do employees have to prove in wrongful termination lawsuits?

In a wrongful termination claim based on workers’ compensation, the terminated employee would have to prove that the employer fired him/her because he/she filed for workers comp. The employer would then defend itself by claiming there were other, legitimate excuses for firing the employee. Examples are that:

The worker was often late,
The worker was unmotivated, or
The worker kept making mistakes

Typical evidence in these cases include:

communications showing the employer’s intent, such as emails, voicemails, and memos;
eyewitness testimony that heard the employers talk about the terminated employee;
testimony by the terminated employee about how the employer’s behavior changed once he/she filed for workers comp

Terminated employees would need to prove their case by a preponderance of the evidence in order to win at trial.³ Though the majority of cases resolve through a settlement.

Note that former employees can also sue employers for wrongful constructive termination – which is when the employer makes the job so unbearable the employee is driven to resign.⁴

Fired worker clearing desk after being illegally retaliated against for filing workers comp

Employees wrongly retaliated against for filing workers comp can sue for wrongful termination in Nevada.

Can employers fire injured employees who refuse to do light duty work?

Yes, if the employee is physically capable of doing light duty work despite his/her job injury.

As part of the workers’ comp process, a doctor will determine whether the injured employee is capable of doing “light duty work.” But if the employee refuses to do this work, then the employer has legal grounds to terminate him/her.

Certainly, light duty jobs may feel like a demotion. But as long as it is temporary, employers are allowed to assign injured workers light duty jobs that are “beneath them.” But if the worker is permanently injured, the light duty work cannot be demeaning to the employee.⁵

What damages can I get for a wrongful termination case?

Employees who win a wrongful termination lawsuit after being fired for filing a workers’ compensation claim may be able to recover the following damages:

lost pay and benefits,
pain and suffering,
punitive damages (if the employer intentionally withheld workers’ comp), and/or
reinstatement

The judge may also order that the employer pay for the plaintiff’s attorneys’ fees and court costs.

What should I do after getting injured at work?

Employees injured at work should:

notify their boss and request a C-1 form (Notice of Injury or Occupational Disease), and
request from their doctor a C-4 form (Employee’s Claim for Compensation/Report of Initial Treatment).

Note that employees usually have to see a medical provider authorized by the employer’s insurer.

Workers have 90 days after the injury to file for workers’ compensation. The insurance company should accept or reject the claim within 30 days of receiving the C-4 form. Depending on the case, employees may receive several disability benefits, including:

Note that injured workers can also appeal if their claim is denied.⁶

Learn more at the State of Nevada Department of Business & Industry Industrial Relations (DIR) website on Workers’ Compensation.

Group of law firm receptionists with headsets

Call our employment law firm for legal advice. Our labor and workers’ compensation lawyers offer free consultations on employment actions. And we appear in state and federal law courts in Las Vegas, NV and throughout the state.

Sustain a non-work related injury in Nevada? Contact our Nevada personal injury attorneys.

Injured in California? Contact our California workers’ comp claim attorneys.

Legal References

See also NRS 613.310. NRS 613.340. Other examples of other grounds for wrongful termination retaliation claims include that the employee was a whistleblower, attended jury duty, or engaged in other protected activity. Another ground of wrongful termination is employment discrimination, such as firing someone based on race or sex.
See Hansen v. Harrah’s, (1984) 100 Nev. 60, 675 P.2d 394.
See Bally’s Employees’ Credit Union v. Wallen, (1989) 105 Nev. 553, 779 P.2d 956.
See Turner v. Anheuser-Busch, Inc. (1994) 7 Cal.4th 1238.
NRS 616C.475.
NRS 616A – NRS 616D.

About the Author

Neil Shouse

A former Los Angeles prosecutor, attorney Neil Shouse graduated with honors from UC Berkeley and Harvard Law School (and completed additional graduate studies at MIT). He has been featured on CNN, Good Morning America, Dr Phil, Court TV, The Today Show and Court TV. Mr Shouse has been recognized by the National Trial Lawyers as one of the Top 100 Criminal and Top 100 Civil Attorneys.