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✦ Certified Specialist in Workers’ Compensation Law — Certified by the State Bar of California, Board of Legal Specialization ✦
Serving injured workers across California. Board-certified specialist; no fee unless we win.
By Eman Yazdchi, Esq. · Certified Specialist in Workers' Compensation Law, State Bar of California Board of Legal Specialization
In California, a construction worker fired after filing a workers' comp claim can recover reinstatement, lost wages, a $10,000 increase under §132a, and the underlying comp benefits. Yazdchi Law, a Certified Specialist in Workers' Compensation Law firm, handles §132a retaliation petitions paired with the underlying comp recovery.
An injured construction worker in California suffered a back injury lifting heavy materials on a residential framing project. The worker reported the injury, filed the DWC-1 claim form, and began treatment in the employer's Medical Provider Network. Within weeks of filing the claim, the supervisor's tone shifted: the worker was suddenly excluded from overtime, written up for routine matters that had been overlooked for years, and assigned to the worst tasks on the crew. Within two months of filing, the worker was fired — the stated reason was unrelated, but the timing, the changed treatment, and a supervisor's comment about the worker being "a liability now" suggested the firing was tied to the workers' comp claim.
This is the classic California §132a retaliation pattern. The worker arrived with two distinct cases: the underlying workers' comp claim for the back injury, and the §132a anti-retaliation petition for the firing. Both are heard at the WCAB, and they often resolve together.
Several California Labor Code sections layered together on a §132a retaliation case paired with an underlying comp claim.
Under California Labor Code §132a, it is illegal for a California employer to discharge, threaten to discharge, or discriminate against an employee because the employee filed or stated an intention to file a workers' compensation claim. The statute also makes the conduct a misdemeanor. A worker who proves a California Labor Code §132a violation recovers four statutory remedies: reinstatement to the position the worker held before the retaliation, lost wages from the date of the retaliatory act through reinstatement, a $10,000 increase in compensation added to the underlying comp recovery, and costs and expenses up to $250.
The California Labor Code §132a petition must be filed at the WCAB within one year of the date of the retaliatory act — the firing, the demotion, or the hour-cut. The one-year clock does not run from the date of the injury or the date of the DWC-1; it runs from the firing date. A late California Labor Code §132a petition is generally barred regardless of the merits.
The strongest California Labor Code §132a cases combine three elements. First, a short timeline between the protected conduct (filing the claim) and the adverse action (the firing) — a firing within days or weeks of the claim filing. Second, a change in the employer's treatment pattern — sudden negative write-ups after years of clean performance, schedule cuts after consistent full-time hours, exclusion from overtime, assignment to undesirable tasks. Third, statements or actions linking the adverse action to the workers' comp activity — supervisor comments like "you cost us money," "you're a liability now," or threats about the claim.
The California Labor Code §132a petition does not replace the underlying workers' comp claim — it is added to it. The underlying claim continues with medical care under California Labor Code §4600, temporary disability under California Labor Code §4653, permanent disability under California Labor Code §4660, and an SJDB voucher up to $6,000 under California Labor Code §4658.7 if the employer cannot accommodate for 12 months after MMI. On a fired-construction-worker case, the California Labor Code §4658.7 voucher is virtually automatic because the firing itself eliminates the accommodation pathway.
Under California Labor Code §244, a California employer cannot threaten to report a worker's immigration status — or to call ICE, or to challenge work authorization documents — in connection with the workers' compensation claim. An immigration threat is treated as a discrete retaliatory act under California Labor Code §132a and California Labor Code §244, and the workers' comp system protects the worker regardless of immigration status under California Labor Code §3351. Immigration-threat patterns are often the strongest evidence of unlawful motive under California Labor Code §132a.
The $10,000 California Labor Code §132a increase is added to the underlying recovery — it is not a substitute for any other benefit. The worker who wins a California Labor Code §132a petition recovers the underlying comp benefits (medical care under California Labor Code §4600, temporary disability under California Labor Code §4653, permanent disability under California Labor Code §4660, the California Labor Code §4658.7 SJDB voucher) AND the California Labor Code §132a remedies (reinstatement, lost wages, $10,000 increase, costs).
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Tap to call →Yazdchi Law handles California California Labor Code §132a retaliation petitions paired with the underlying workers' compensation recovery. The combined recovery on a fired-construction-worker case typically layers the underlying back-injury comp benefits — medical care, temporary disability, permanent disability indemnity, and the California Labor Code §4658.7 SJDB voucher — with the California Labor Code §132a statutory remedies of reinstatement, lost wages, the $10,000 increase, and costs.
Every case stands on its own facts. Past results do not guarantee future outcomes. The recovery range described above reflects the firm's historical resolutions for similar injury types — it is not a prediction or guarantee for any future matter. Each California workers' compensation case turns on the specific medical evidence, employment record, statutory framework, and procedural posture in that case.
From the moment the worker reports the injury, every text message, email, schedule change, write-up, and witness account becomes potential California Labor Code §132a evidence. A worker who keeps a contemporaneous record of every interaction with the supervisor — dates, times, what was said — has a much stronger case than one who reconstructs it from memory months later. Screenshots, printouts, and saved emails are the foundation of the California Labor Code §132a evidence record.
The California Labor Code §132a deadline is one year from the date of the retaliatory act — the firing, demotion, or hour-cut. The clock does not run from the date of the injury or the date of the DWC-1. A worker fired six months after filing the workers' comp claim still has the full one-year clock from the firing date. A late California Labor Code §132a petition is generally barred regardless of how strong the underlying retaliation evidence is.
California workers' compensation attorneys work on contingency under California Labor Code §4906 — typically 15% of any recovery, paid only if the case recovers. A free consultation costs nothing, and a Certified Specialist in Workers' Compensation Law, certified by the California Board of Legal Specialization, State Bar of California, can evaluate whether the employer's actions cross the California Labor Code §132a line. Yazdchi Law handles California California Labor Code §132a retaliation petitions from the firm's office in Palmdale.
Last reviewed by Eman Yazdchi, Esq., May 2026.
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