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✦ Certified Specialist in Workers’ Compensation Law — Certified by the State Bar of California, Board of Legal Specialization ✦
Your employer cannot punish you for getting hurt. If they did, we’ll make them pay.
By Eman Yazdchi, Esq. · Certified Specialist in Workers' Compensation Law, State Bar of California Board of Legal Specialization
In California, a Palmdale worker fired or demoted for filing a workers' comp claim can recover reinstatement, back pay, and a statutory $10,000 increase under Labor Code §132a, plus immigration-status protection under §244. Yazdchi Law — a Certified Specialist workers' comp firm in Palmdale — handles AV §132a petitions at the Van Nuys WCAB. Free consultation.
Palmdale generates a documented pattern of workers' comp retaliation around three employer types: Plant 42 aerospace subcontractors and staffing agencies that pull badges or "non-renew" trades workers immediately after a DWC-1; Avenue M warehouse and 14 Freeway-corridor distribution employers that "restructure" injured workers off shift schedules; and small Antelope Valley construction, retail, and food-service employers that terminate the day a comp claim hits the insurer's desk. Each fact pattern is a textbook California Labor Code §132a retaliation petition.
California Labor Code California Labor Code §132a declares it the policy of the state that there be no discrimination against workers who file or intend to file a workers' compensation claim — and provides specific remedies when an employer crosses the line. The retaliation analysis sits on top of the underlying comp claim, in the same Van Nuys WCAB file, and is litigated on the same calendar.
Yazdchi Law's office at 1125 W Avenue M-14 in Palmdale is the firm's home base — 0 miles from this city. Eman Yazdchi is a Certified Specialist in Workers' Compensation Law, certified by the California Board of Legal Specialization, State Bar of California. Palmdale California Labor Code §132a cases are heard at the Van Nuys district office of the Workers' Compensation Appeals Board at 6150 Van Nuys Boulevard, Van Nuys, the district that serves the entire Antelope Valley.
A Palmdale California Labor Code §132a retaliation petition is a separate cause of action embedded inside the workers' comp file. It requires proof that the employer discharged, threatened to discharge, or in any manner discriminated against the worker because the worker filed a claim, intended to file, settled, received an award, or testified. The remedy structure is statutory and predictable, and the burden after a prima-facie showing shifts to the employer to rebut. This page sits within our broader fired after a California workers' comp claim practice. Statute deep-dive: California Labor Code §132a (anti-retaliation).
Under California Labor Code §132a, a Palmdale employer that discharges or discriminates against a worker for filing or intending to file a workers' compensation claim is liable for reinstatement, lost wages and benefits from the date of discrimination, costs and expenses up to $250, and a statutory increase in compensation of $10,000. The conduct reached is broader than termination — it includes demotion, schedule retaliation, harassment, denial of overtime, sudden discipline, and pretextual "elimination" of the worker's position. The California Supreme Court has read California Labor Code §132a as the workers' comp system's anti-retaliation enforcement mechanism, with the WCAB retaining exclusive jurisdiction.
Under California Labor Code §244, a California employer may not threaten or report a worker's immigration status as retaliation for exercising labor rights — including filing a workers' compensation claim. The rule covers Plant 42 subcontractor workforces, AV warehouse staffing agencies, agricultural workers in the Pearblossom-Littlerock corridor, and small-restaurant employees throughout the Antelope Valley. California Labor Code §3351 simultaneously confirms that workers' compensation covers every Palmdale worker regardless of immigration status. A Palmdale employer who fires a worker after a comp claim and tells the worker "I'll call ICE if you contest this" is on the wrong side of both California Labor Code §244 and California Labor Code §132a.
A Palmdale California Labor Code §132a petition requires four elements: (1) the worker filed or intended to file a workers' comp claim; (2) the employer took an adverse action — termination, demotion, schedule cut, discipline; (3) the adverse action was motivated by the claim; and (4) damages flow from the action. Temporal proximity between the DWC-1 and the discharge is reliable circumstantial evidence — a same-day or same-week termination after a claim is filed often supports the motive element on its own. Pretext is shown by inconsistent discipline records, sudden "performance" write-ups appearing after the claim, or witnesses who heard the employer's stated reason.
California Labor Code §3700 requires every California employer to carry workers' compensation insurance, and California Labor Code §3700.5 makes failure a misdemeanor. An uninsured Palmdale employer that retaliates against an injured worker faces California Labor Code §132a liability at the WCAB plus civil exposure under California Labor Code §3706 (loss of the exclusive-remedy defense) — meaning the worker may sue the employer in civil court for the underlying injury while also pursuing the California Labor Code §132a petition. The Uninsured Employers Benefits Trust Fund covers the underlying comp benefits the employer should have paid. The unreasonable-delay penalty under California Labor Code §5814 (25% of late benefits) often layers on top.
Injured at work in Palmdale? Call (661) 273-1780
Tap to call →Palmdale California Labor Code §132a petitions are heard at the Van Nuys district office of the Workers' Compensation Appeals Board at 6150 Van Nuys Boulevard, Van Nuys, the district that serves the entire Antelope Valley. The Division of Workers' Compensation publishes the district directory. Yazdchi Law appears at Van Nuys constantly for AV retaliation cases against Plant 42 subcontractors, AV warehouse staffing agencies, and Avenue M small-employer files. Related coverage: Palmdale workers' comp settlements. See also: California school-staff injury guide.
Settlement magnitudes are anchored by the statutory remedies. Back pay from the date of discrimination through reinstatement (or through resolution) is the largest component on terminations; the $10,000 increase under California Labor Code §132a is fixed; costs are capped at $250 under the statute. A Palmdale California Labor Code §132a case that yields reinstatement plus six months of back pay, the $10,000 increase, and the underlying comp award commonly resolves in the high five figures combined. A long-standing Palmdale aerospace or warehouse worker with multi-year back wages and an underlying serious-injury claim can resolve well into six figures across both files. Related coverage: Palmdale back-injury workers' comp claims.
Keep the DWC-1, every text and email naming the injury or the claim, every disciplinary document, and the names of every co-worker who witnessed the conversation or saw the discipline change. The retaliation petition must be filed at the WCAB; the statute of limitations is one year from the date of discrimination. Yazdchi Law P.C., 1125 W Avenue M-14, Suite A, Palmdale, CA 93551. (661) 273-3939. Free consultations for Palmdale injured workers, with appearances at the Van Nuys WCAB.
Last reviewed by Eman Yazdchi, Esq., May 2026.
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