Was Virginia Workers’ Comp Retaliation Bill A Bridge Too Far?

It is a common and sometimes justifiable concern for some employees around the nation. They worry that if they file a workers’ compensation claim they will be fired by their employer.

In many jurisdictions, such retaliation by employers is prohibited by law. That is not to suggest that it never happens. It is just prohibited by law.

Apparently, that is not yet the case in Virginia. The Virginia House passed a bill this year that would make retaliation by employers for the filing of a workers’ compensation claim illegal.

Introduced by Delegate Lee Carter, he told a Senate committee reviewing the bill that "House Bill 1754 addresses a problem that is very commonly incurred by working people in the Commonwealth. So commonly in fact that in the building trades there’s a joke for it which is when you fall off a ladder, you are fired for it before you hit the ground."

Despite the bill passing the House, it appears that it will not become law this year.