Getting hurt on the job is hard enough. Maybe you were injured at a manufacturing plant off Route 219 near Salamanca, or you came down with a serious occupational illness working in one of Cattaraugus County’s healthcare facilities. You filed your workers’ comp claim, you started getting treatment, and then your employer let you go. Now you’re sitting at home wondering whether you just lost everything, including your benefits, your job, and any chance at justice.
We talk to people in this situation more than you might expect. And in almost every conversation, the same three myths come up. These misunderstandings cause real harm because they lead injured workers to give up rights they actually have. If you are dealing with a work-related injury or illness and you’ve been let go, understanding how New York’s workers’ compensation system actually works could make a significant difference in your situation.
Myth #1: Your Benefits Stop the Moment You’re Fired
This is probably the most damaging myth we encounter. People assume that losing their job means losing their workers’ comp benefits, so they panic, they stop communicating with their doctor, and they sometimes accept far less than they deserve just to get something before it all disappears.
That’s not how New York law works.
Workers’ compensation benefits are tied to the work-related injury and resulting disability, not simply to whether the injured worker remains on the employer’s payroll. In other words, your claim exists because you were hurt at work, not because you still work there. The employment relationship ending does not erase the injury. Medical care for an established work injury can generally continue even after the employment relationship ends, unless those rights have been resolved through an applicable settlement.
Wage replacement benefits can get more complicated depending on your specific circumstances, which is exactly why getting legal guidance early matters. But the foundational point stands: you can still collect workers’ compensation benefits after being fired in New York, because your right to benefits is tied to your workplace injury, not your employment status.
Myth #2: Your Employer Had Every Right to Fire You Because New York Is At-Will
New York is an at-will employment state. That part is true. At-will employment means your employer generally can terminate you for any legally permitted reason or without giving a reason at all. Employers lean on this fact heavily, and some use it to make workers feel like they have no recourse.
However, you going on workers’ comp is not a legally allowed reason to fire you. Under New York law, firing an employee in retaliation for filing a workers’ comp claim is unlawful discrimination. This protection comes from a specific provision of New York’s Workers’ Compensation Law, and it applies broadly. The protection can begin even before a formal claim is filed. It also covers an employee who requests a claim form for an injury received in the course of employment, as well as someone who testifies or is about to testify in a workers’ compensation proceeding.
So if your employer fired you shortly after you reported your injury, asked for claim paperwork, or filed your claim, that timing matters. A lot. An employer rarely writes an email saying that someone is being fired because they filed a workers’ compensation claim. Instead, retaliation cases often depend on circumstantial evidence.
Other evidence can make the picture clearer, including performance reviews from before the injury, attendance records, emails, text messages, disciplinary notices, statements from supervisors, and evidence showing how coworkers were treated for similar conduct. This stuff can make or break your case. Preserve everything you have access to, and do it now.
What Can You Actually Recover If Retaliation Occurred?
This is where things get meaningful. If you were fired in retaliation for filing your claim, New York law provides a path to hold your employer accountable. Workers who experience retaliation can file a discrimination complaint with the Workers’ Compensation Board, which has authority to investigate the complaint and, if discrimination is found, to award the worker reinstatement, back wages, and other relief.
The timing here matters. An employee has two years to file a discrimination claim from the date of the alleged discrimination, done by filing a DC-120 claim form with the Workers’ Compensation Board. Two years sounds like a long time. It isn’t, especially when you factor in how long it takes to gather evidence, build a case, and navigate the process. We’ve seen people wait too long and lose options that were genuinely available to them.
If the Board finds your employer violated the law, the available remedies can be substantial. Upon finding that an employer has violated this section, the board shall make an order that any employee so discriminated against shall be restored to employment or otherwise restored to the position or privileges they would have had but for the discrimination, and shall be compensated by their employer for any loss of compensation arising out of such discrimination, together with fees for services rendered by an attorney or licensed representative.
In plain terms: reinstatement to your job, recovery of lost wages, and potentially your attorney’s fees covered. In some cases, the employer may also be subject to penalties or fines for violating New York State’s workers’ compensation laws.
Myth #3: There’s Nothing You Can Do If the Firing Seemed “Legitimate”
Employers are smart about this. They rarely say out loud that you’re being fired for filing a claim. Instead, they point to a performance issue, a restructuring, a reduction in force. And many injured workers in the Southern Tier and Cattaraugus County accept that explanation and walk away.
That doesn’t mean the explanation is true, and it doesn’t mean you have no options.
The Workers’ Compensation Board will not find discrimination if the employer proves a legitimate, non-discriminatory reason for the action. That is why the evidence surrounding the termination matters more than the fact that the worker happened to be receiving benefits at the time. In other words, the employer’s stated reason gets examined, not simply accepted.
Were you let go suddenly after years of positive reviews? Did the “performance issue” appear out of nowhere right after you filed? Were coworkers with similar records kept on? Retaliation can include being terminated, losing hours, facing reduced pay, or receiving unfair performance reviews soon after filing a claim. The pattern often tells a different story than the paperwork does.
This is an area where the law provides real uncertainty in practice, even for experienced practitioners. Each situation turns on its own facts. What we can say is that accepting an employer’s stated reason without any legal review is a mistake we see people make regularly, and it often costs them significantly.
