Friday, September 19, 2008 REDA Claims in NCI came accross this article the other day and thought it useful and informative. For the most part, an injured employee cannot sue his/her employer in state court for injuries sustained in the course and scope of employment. Workers' comp. claims are heard before a duputy commissioner from the North Carolina Industrial Commission.
However, if an employee is fired from their job because they filed a workers' comp. claim, they may have a cause of action against the employer unter the Realiatory Employment Discrimination Act (REDA). Unfortunately, as you will see from the article in the link below, this act does not have many teeth and most claims do not yield positive results. I see this as an opportunity for people to contact their state senators and representatives and offer support for legislation that adds some real teeth to this act to protect workers who get fired because they were hurt on the job.
If you want to initiate a REDA claim, you must contact the NC Dept of Labor within 90 days of your termination to allow them to begin an investigation.
http://www.charlotteobserver.com/573/story/191970.html |