I got a hernia at work and have been out on workman's comp. Today I was told I am now suspended. What should I do?

You should contact a lawyer as soon as possible. It is never too early to get an attorney on your side. The insurance companies have many attorneys available to answer their questions. An attorney will not immediately start charging you a fee. The workers' compensation act does not allow that. The attorney will only be entitled to a fee if and when he/she does something to protect the benefits you are currently receiving. Your question and fact scenerio raise numerous legal issues too involved to answer in this forum. has a great search tool if you need it to locate an attorney.

My advice to you would be to contact a worker's Comp attorney immediately. What you are describing is possibly an interference with your rights under Worker's Comp. has a excellent 'Find a Lawyer' tool on this site. Once you locate an attorney you are comfortable with, you can discuss the full details of your claim and determine if your rights are being violated. Most Worker's Comp attorneys will speak with you to discuss the merits of your claim without any cost to you. You need to protect yourself and get someone on your side who knows the law. Best of luck to you.

Based on my experience, I actually think I know who your employer is. This is obviously not an uncommon practice for an employer to cobble up a reason to terminate an employee who is on workers' compensation. Your employer is plainly aware of the law that disallows the receipt of wage loss benefits if an injured employee is terminated for cause. I would strongly suggest that you speak with a workers' compensation lawyer while the investigation is pending. He or she will be able to lay out a plan for what happens next. This is far better than your employer laying out a plan for what happens next.

You should contact an attorney as soon as possible. It is not clear from your post if you are still out on Workers' Compensation. If you are, the suspension from the job should not affect your right to compensation as long as you remain unable to work.

You need to make an appointment with an experienced Workers' Compensation attorney as soon as possible.

You should absolutely contact a lawyer now. The sooner a lawyer gets involved, the better your chance that he or she will have to preserve all of your benefits. Most Workers' Compensation lawyers do not charge any fee for the consultation, so it costs you nothing to sit down with somebody to explain all of the facts and learn your rights.

If you are worried about being terminated, there is probably good reason for it, you know you employer better than you could describe here. Also, in workers compensation cases, employers/insurers often have an incentive to fire people for "misconduct" so they no longer have to pay wages lost because of the injury. Unfortunately, something like this happens in at least 4 of 10 cases I see and probably more. You have a benefit, you have an employer who also does not want to pay it, you should see an attorney. Your case actually could benefit from your pregnancy because of the secondary liability they could face if they fire you for an improper basis. However, you should b especially careful right now to make sure you do not do or say anything that would compromise your ongoing benefits.

I see this kind of scenario a lot. The employer and its insurer are likely currently paying your workers' compensation under a "Notice of TEMPORARY Compensation Payable" if you have been disabled less than 90 days. Read the fine print. The form includes a small box labelled "notice to employee" that warns you that your employer and its insurance care have NOT accepted liability for your injury. Essentially, they are paying you voluntarily -- and they can STOP paying your workers' compensation benefits at any time, without doing anything more than sending you a notice, within the first 90 days of disability. If the employer fires you on a pretense, and also stops your workers compensation, it will become your burden in proof to pursue litigation in workers' compensation court on a Claim Petition AND the employer will argue that even if you can prove your injury was work-related and that it is resulting in disability, the employer will add a further argument that you are not entitled to workers' compensation even if disabled -- since you were fired for causes unrelated to your disability status and this is the reason for your income loss. Employers like those who operate group homes tend to be very savvy about the ways they can avoid workers' compensation liability, use the Act against you, and leave you starved for both wages and benefits and with an uphill battle in court, so that it becomes very hard for you to pursue your rights and very easy for them to either escape responsibility or greatly delay accepting any real obligation while starving you into taking a low end settlement even if the evidence favors your rights. These are the reasons WHY you need an attorney immediately -- to keep your employer and its insurance carrier (or with this kind of often self-insured employer, their insurance administrator or "TPA") playing by the rules and to guide you to make the right moves when they pull stunts like this. Look for a smart, savvy lawyer who is a certified workers' compensation specialist, with the best possible rating, and you can't go far wrong. No attorneys fee is due unless and until that attorney secures rights for you in court, approved by a Judge, so that at the current state of your case you can get advice and guidance without it costing you anything unless and until there is a dispute in court (and you win on that dispute) or you agree to a lump sum settlement negotiated by the attorney.