Workers’ comp, disability benefits and SSDI: will applying hurt my case?

Can I be fired for filing a workers’ comp or disability claim?

No. It is unlawful to fire or “in any other manner discriminate against” you because you “claimed or attempted to claim” workers’ compensation, requested a claim form for a work injury, or claimed any benefit under the Workers’ Compensation Law, which includes disability benefits and Paid Family Leave (Workers’ Comp. Law § 120). The claim fails if the employer shows another valid reason existed, so the employer’s explanation will be tested. A complaint must be filed with the Workers’ Compensation Board within two years, and the Board may order reinstatement and lost pay (§ 120).

Can I sue my employer over the injury itself?

Generally not. When workers’ compensation applies, the employer’s liability under that law is “exclusive and in place of any other liability whatsoever” on account of the injury, except where the employer failed to carry the required coverage (Workers’ Comp. Law § 11(1)). That rule is about the injury. How you are treated afterward is a separate question: firing you for claiming benefits is covered by § 120, and if the injury leaves you with a lasting condition, the disability definitions in the ADA and the State and City laws do not exclude conditions that began at work (42 U.S.C. § 12102; Exec. Law § 292(21); Admin. Code § 8-102).

Will applying for Social Security disability hurt my case?

It can, if you do not handle it carefully. A Social Security disability application says you cannot work. A disability discrimination claim says you could have worked with a reasonable accommodation. The Supreme Court held that these are not automatically in conflict, because Social Security does not consider whether you could work with an accommodation, so applying for or receiving benefits creates no presumption against your claim. But when you have sworn that you are totally disabled, you must give an explanation “sufficient to warrant a reasonable juror’s concluding” that you could still do the essential functions of the job with or without an accommodation (Cleveland v. Policy Mgmt. Sys. Corp., 526 U.S. 795, 797–98, 802–07 (1999), vacating judgment for the employer).

• Explanations the Court recognized: Social Security does not ask whether you could work with an accommodation; its rules rely on presumptions that may not fit your particular job; and a condition can change over time, so a statement made when you applied may not reflect what you could do when your employer acted (526 U.S. at 803–05).
• Read the forms before you sign. The same caution applies to private long-term disability claims, which often ask you to describe yourself as unable to work.
• Talk to a lawyer before you file if you also think your employer treated you unlawfully.

What about New York disability benefits?

State disability benefits are for inability to perform your regular duties because of an injury or illness not caused by work (Workers’ Comp. Law § 201(9)(A)). A claim for a period when you truly could not work, even with an accommodation, is consistent with a claim that you could have returned with one afterward. Keep the dates straight: what your doctor certified, and for which weeks.

Will applying for unemployment hurt my case?

A finding in an unemployment decision does not bind a later court. “No finding of fact or law contained in a decision rendered pursuant to this article by a referee, the appeal board or a court shall preclude the litigation of any issue of fact or law in any subsequent action or proceeding,” with narrow exceptions for unemployment-related claims (Labor Law § 623(2)). So losing an unemployment hearing does not decide a discrimination case. The rule cuts both ways: an unemployment judge found that a fired hospital clerk had told her employer about her surgery “as soon as was practicable,” and that finding did not stop the hospital from disputing her FMLA notice in court (Pollard v. N.Y. Methodist Hosp., 861 F.3d 374, 382 (2d Cir. 2017)). But what you say at the hearing is on the record, so answer carefully and consistently with what you will say later.

Does applying for benefits count as filing a discrimination complaint?

No. A workers’ compensation, disability benefits or unemployment claim is not a discrimination complaint, and the deadlines for a discrimination claim are separate. Do not assume a benefits claim pauses them. What can bar a later lawsuit on the same claim is filing a complaint with the State Division of Human Rights or the City Commission (Exec. Law § 297(9); Admin. Code § 8-502(a)). If you file a retaliation complaint with the Workers’ Compensation Board, ask a lawyer how it fits with any discrimination claim before you file.

What are the deadlines?

General periods only; when a period starts depends on the facts. An EEOC charge under the ADA or the PWFA is generally due within 300 days in New York. A State Human Rights Law claim can be brought in court within three years (CPLR 214(2)), or with the Division of Human Rights within three years for conduct on or after February 15, 2024 and one year before that (Exec. Law § 297(5)). A City Human Rights Law claim can be brought in court within three years (Admin. Code § 8-502(d)) or with the City Commission within one year (§ 8-109(e)). Filing with the Division or the Commission can bar a later lawsuit on the same claim (Exec. Law § 297(9); Admin. Code § 8-502(a)). See the deadlines on the main page.

What can I recover?

For retaliation for claiming benefits, the Workers’ Compensation Board may order reinstatement, lost pay and attorney’s fees, and may impose a penalty on the employer (Workers’ Comp. Law § 120). For discrimination, see what you can recover.

What is unsettled?

• How courts treat each kind of benefit statement. Cleveland involved Social Security disability. How much weight a court gives a statement on a private insurance form, a workers’ compensation form or a State disability form depends on what the form asked and what you said.

What should I gather?

• Copies of every benefits application you have filed, and every medical form submitted with it.
• The dates each claim covers, and any decision on it.
• Your accommodation requests and your employer’s responses, to show what you could have done with the change you asked for.
• Anything your employer said or did after you filed a claim.