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Missouri is an at-will employment state, so it’s natural to worry that filing a workers’ compensation claim could put your job at risk. The good news is that even if you’re terminated while being treated for a work injury, your employer must keep paying for that treatment. In Missouri, the law protects employees by prohibiting employers from terminating them because they exercised their right to file a claim.
However, there are limitations to that protection that are important to keep in mind. Your employer can still let you go for reasons unrelated to your claim like performance issues, layoffs, or an inability to do the job even with accommodations. The real question in every case is why you were actually terminated, and that’s what we’ll break down in this blog.
What is an At-Will Employment State?
Missouri is what’s known as an “at-will” employment state. In practice, that means your employer can terminate your employment at any time, for almost any reason (or no stated reason at all) as long as the reason isn’t illegal. The same goes in reverse: you’re free to leave a job whenever you choose, without notice.
At-will employment gives employers a lot of latitude, and it’s part of why so many injured workers worry that filing a workers’ compensation claim could cost them their job. But “almost any reason” isn’t the same as “any reason.” Missouri law carves out specific exceptions where termination crosses the line into illegal territory, and retaliating against an employee for exercising their right to workers’ compensation is one of them.
Your Employer Must Cover Your Medical Treatment
Losing your job doesn’t automatically cut off your right to medical care for a work injury. If you were hurt on the job and your employer (or their insurer) accepted your workers’ compensation claim, they remain responsible for authorizing and paying for your treatment until you reach maximum medical improvement.
In other words, your workers’ compensation claim and your employment status are two separate things. Termination ends the job, but it doesn’t end the claim. Your employer can’t just decide to fire you as a shortcut to stop paying for your care.
One important distinction is that this protection applies specifically to your medical treatment. Wage replacement benefits, like temporary total disability payments, can be a more complicated question if your termination was for reasons unrelated to your injury. If you’re unsure where your situation falls, an experienced attorney can review the details of your case and help you understand your options.
It Is Illegal to Fire You for Filing a Claim in Missouri
Missouri law is clear on this point. Under RSMo 287.780, an employer cannot discharge or discriminate against an employee because that employee exercised their right to workers’ compensation. If your claim was a motivating factor in your termination, the law is on your side.
A common misconception is that you have to prove your workers’ comp claim was the only reason you were fired. Under current Missouri law, you only need to show that filing your claim was a “motivating factor” in your employer’s decision — meaning it actually played a role and had a determinative influence on the outcome. Your employer doesn’t get a free pass just because they can point to some other factor in the mix.
Important Evidence for your case
Retaliation is rarely announced outright; it’s usually proven through circumstantial evidence. Some of the factors that courts look at:
- Timing: Were you terminated shortly after filing your claim, requesting accommodations, or returning from treatment?
- Shifting explanations: Did your employer’s stated reason for termination change over time, or seem inconsistent with what you were told at the time?
- Comments and conduct: Did a supervisor or manager make remarks suggesting frustration with your injury, your claim, or your restrictions?
- Deviation from normal process: Were you disciplined or terminated in a way that skipped steps your employer normally follows, or that wasn’t applied to coworkers in similar situations?
What You Can Recover
If you’ve been terminated in violation of RSMo 287.780, you have the right to file a civil action against your employer. Depending on the facts of your case, damages may include:
- Lost wages, including both back pay and front pay
- Emotional distress damages
- Attorney’s fees
- Punitive damages, in cases involving particularly egregious conduct
Every case is different, and what you’re entitled to recover depends heavily on the specifics of your situation. It’s always worth having an attorney evaluate your case early in the process to help you navigate it.
When Termination Is Legal
Filing a workers’ compensation claim doesn’t make you immune from termination. Missouri employers are still allowed to let you go for reasons that have nothing to do with your claim. The three most common scenarios are:
Misconduct
If you violate a company policy, engage in insubordination, or have documented performance problems, your employer can generally terminate you. What matters most here is consistency and documentation. If your employer suddenly starts enforcing a policy against you that it never enforced against coworkers, or produces performance criticism that only appeared after you filed your claim, that inconsistency can itself become evidence that the stated reason is a pretext for retaliation.
Layoffs and Restructuring
Companies are allowed to make legitimate business decisions like reducing headcount, eliminating a position, or restructuring for financial reasons. The key here is checking to see who is most affected by the layoff. If injured employees are disproportionately selected for a “layoff,” if your position is eliminated but your job duties are quietly reassigned to someone else, or if the timing lines up suspiciously with your claim, that pattern can still raise a legitimate retaliation concern.
Inability to Perform Essential Job Duties
If your injury prevents you from performing the essential functions of your job, your employer may have grounds for termination, but only after certain obligations have been met. Under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), an employer must engage in what’s called the “interactive process”: a good-faith conversation with you about your limitations and whether a reasonable accommodation would allow you to do the job.
Reasonable accommodations can include modified duties, schedule adjustments, or equipment changes, but an employer is not required to provide an accommodation that would cause undue hardship or eliminate an essential function of the role.
Missouri Human Rights Act (MHRA)
Missouri also has its own layer of protection here. The Missouri Human Rights Act (MHRA) provides state-level disability protections that operate alongside the ADA, and in some respects has different thresholds and standards than federal law.
It’s also worth noting that not every jurisdiction obligates an employer to reassign an injured worker to a different, vacant position if they can’t return to their original role. Whether that duty applies can depend on the specific facts of your job, your employer, and the accommodation requested.
What to Do If You’re Fired While on Workers’ Comp
If you believe you were terminated because of your workers’ compensation claim, what you do in the days that follow can make a real difference in your case. Consider these steps:
- Document everything: Save emails, texts, and any written communication with your employer or HR about your injury, your claim, or your termination. If a conversation happens in person or over the phone, write down what was said as soon as possible afterward while it’s fresh.
- Get the reason for your termination in writing: Ask your employer to state, in writing, the specific reason you were let go. A vague or inconsistent explanation can become important evidence later.
- Keep a record of your treatment timeline: Hold onto appointment records, medical restrictions, and correspondence with your employer’s workers’ compensation insurer. This timeline helps establish exactly what your employer knew, and when.
- Note the timing: Write down the date you filed your claim, any related dates (doctor visits, requests for accommodation, restrictions communicated to your employer), and the date you were terminated. A short gap between these events is often one of the clearest signs of retaliation.
- Contact an attorney promptly: Missouri law imposes filing deadlines on retaliation claims, and evidence is easiest to gather while it’s still fresh. Waiting to speak with an attorney can limit your options. Even if you’re not sure whether you have a case, it’s worth having it reviewed.
We Protect Employee Rights – You Can Count on Cantor!
Getting fired while you’re still recovering from a work injury is stressful enough without having to untangle whether it was legal. The good news is that Missouri law protects you more broadly than you may realize.
If you’ve been terminated while filing for or receiving workers’ compensation benefits, don’t wait to get answers. Evidence gets harder to gather with time, and filing deadlines apply. Our attorneys at Cantor Injury Law have spent years fighting for injured workers across Missouri and Southern Illinois, and we’re ready to review your situation, tell you honestly where you stand, and fight for what you’re owed if your employer broke the law.
Call 314-628-9999 or reach out online for a free, no-obligation consultation.
