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Home > Practice Areas > Employment Law > Fired worker entitled to workers’ compensation
Fired worker entitled to workers’ compensation
By:
Nora Tooher
Published: February 4, 2010
Tags: disability benefits, Workers’ Compensation
An employer’s obligation to pay temporary total disability benefits doesn’t stop when the employee is terminated for conduct unrelated to the injury, the Illinois Supreme Court has ruled.
The employee sustained a work-related injury. Over a two-year period, his doctor required him to remain off-work at times; at other times he was able to perform “light duty” work. He received TTD workers’ compensation benefits when he could not work.
He was terminated for conduct unrelated to the injury, and the company refused to pay him further TDD benefits.
The employee argued this his dismissal should have no impact on his entitlement to TTD benefits, and that he was entitled to benefits until his condition stabilized.
The supreme court agreed, reversing an appellate court.
“It is a well-settled principle that when a claimant seeks TTD benefits, the dispositive inquiry is whether the claimant’s condition has stabilized, i.e. whether the claimant has reached maximum medical improvement. …
“Whether an employee has been discharged for a valid cause, or whether the discharge violates some public policy, are matters foreign to workers’ compensation cases. An injured employee’s entitlement to TTD benefits is a completely separate issue and may not be conditioned on the propriety of the discharge,” the court said.
Illinois Supreme Court. Interstate Scaffolding v. Ill. Comp Commission, No. 107852. Jan. 22, 2010. Lawyers USA No. 993-1498.
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