Fired for Getting Hurt? Court Orders Employer to Pay $141K

Getting hurt shouldn’t cost you your job. A federal district court in Oregon has ruled that the U.S. Postal Service should pay more than $141,000 to a probationary employee who was terminated shortly after she reported a workplace injury.

The court ruled that the Postal Service violated an OSHA provision that bans employers from retaliating against employees who report concerns relating to workplace safety.

In November of 2018, the Postal Service hired Cassandra Hankins as a city carrier assistant.

Hankins was hired on a probationary basis, and her 90-day probationary period was scheduled to end in early February of 2019.

Getting hurt on the job

Near the start of January of 2019, Hankins was injured at work while stepping into the back of a work vehicle to retrieve and unload mail. She said that as she stepped onto the back of the vehicle’s bumper, she felt her calf pop and tear. She was later diagnosed as having a calf strain.

She reported the injury to her supervisor on the day she got hurt, and she also filled out an Accident/Injury Investigation Report.

Employees in Hankins’ position sometimes used a tool called a boat hook to help them retrieve mail from their vehicles while working. Hankins said there was no boat hook in the vehicle she was using when she got hurt.

Was she fired for getting hurt?

An operations manager concluded that Hankins did not perform her job safely, and a decision was made to terminate her employment.

A postmaster admitted that she often told new employees that getting hurt during their initial probationary period would likely lead to job termination.

Another postmaster testified that not using a boat hook is not a terminable or even a serious offense.

After her employment was terminated, Hankins filed a retaliation complaint with OSHA. The agency found that the Postal Service violated the anti-relation provision, leading the Secretary of Labor to file a court action against it.

She never had a problem before

The court then entered its findings of fact and conclusions of law.

It noted that up until the time of her injury, Hankins had received only positive feedback and had never been warned about unsafe behavior.

It further noted that the Postal Service policy called for the service to evaluate probationary employees like Hankins at 30, 60 and 80-day intervals, and that the service did not perform any of those evaluations with respect to Hankins.

This is your safety training?

Hankins said she was never told she could be disciplined for not using a boat hook and that she was never given an opportunity to correct any alleged deficiency in her work performance. She also said she was never trained on how to use a boat hook or even where a boat hook could be found. Nor was there anything in training materials about the use of boat hooks. Further, there was nothing about boat hooks on any checklist of items that an employee should report as missing from a workplace vehicle that they were using.

She also said a boat hook would not prevented her from getting hurt because it would not have enabled her to reach the mail she needed to retrieve.

The court also noted that Hankins said “she experienced deep shame and loss of self-esteem” after her employment was terminated.

You can’t do that

The court found that the record supported an inference that the Postal Service violated the law by terminating Hankins because she reported her workplace injury.

She was let go within three weeks of the injury and just 11 days before her probationary period was set to end, the court noted.

The court also decided that the Postal Service’s purported reason for the termination – not using a boat hook – was really just a pretext for discrimination.

Hankins was never trained on how and when to use a boat hook, and boat hook protocols were not included in training materials. Also, a postmaster admitted that not using a boat hook was not a serious offense.

It did not help the Postal Service’s case that it violated its own policies when it did not conduct periodic evaluations of Hankins’ job performance.

The court decided that the Postal Service should pay Hankins $86,107.50 in back pay; $5,200 in job search costs; and $50,000 in damages for emotional distress.

Spell out safety requirements — and do the training

This case is a reminder – with an exclamation point – to make sure all safety training is specifically outlined in written materials, and that the training is conducted and documented.

And of course, it is a major mistake to retaliate against any employee just for getting hurt or reporting legitimate safety concerns or a workplace injury.

Su v. United States Postal Service, No. 3:21-cv-01454-AN, 2024 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 85120 (D. Ore. 5/10/24).