My employee refuses to give me work, possible discrimination, do I qualify for unemployment?

[dalon]

In November of last year, I was hurt of the job and I had a herniated disc in my L5-S1 region, I have been out of work since then.

I saw the doctor for the insurance company back in February (the one that says you are better than you actually are so that the insurance company doesn't have to pay as much) and he declared me 50% disabled while every other doctor I have been to before and after that has declared me 100% disabled. So around April, the insurance company cut my payments in half, and my human resource manager sent me a letter in the mail with a custom work schedule to satisfy the 50% disability diagnosis, however I had been to two doctor's appointments since then and they both declared me 100%. I informed my HR manager that the exam from February does not supersede any more recent diagnosis, as my lawyer informed me, and that I had a hearing scheduled with the compensation board.

So at this hearing, I settled for 75% disability and pay, and part of the settlement was that I had to search for a job that would accommodate my disability or go to school full time, otherwise I would lose my payments. So I called my current employer every day for a week only to have my calls sent to voicemail, where I left a message and my calls were never returned. So I stopped in and visited my human resources manager who said that there were several job functions that I could do, but she "Had to check with the warehouse manager first." So I called her twice a week for two weeks and she called me back on friday of the second week after I stopped in and told me "We are working with the worker's compensation board to make sure that we accommodate your disability, you know how slow they are with stuff like that." I have never had an issue with either my doctors being slow, or the compensation board being slow, and my employer has all of the information that I have. So, I think about 3 weeks has gone by without a returned phone call from her, yet I am still employed because I still receive paystubs in my email.

A good friend of mine, and my uncle both work there and they both assured me that the warehouse is having mandatory overtime because there are so few employees at this point. They also informed me that my boss got fired, and the rumor is that he was telling people that I was going to be fired (I am aware this is just a rumor and won't hold up in court, but even still). Our shifts also have safety streaks, and the shift that I was on had gone 3 years without an injury, and when I reported my injury to my boss, he refused to acknowledge it and document it, and after I was taken out of work, they never reset the safety streak, as if it never happened, or as if I was no longer an employee when it happened, even though it did happen, and I am still employed by them.

Does this count as my employer refusing to supply work when it is readily available, and possible discrimination because I was hurt on the job? And am I entitled to unemployment, or more, because of this situation?

[alburt]

It would be very helpful to know where you are.

Assuming the states, in most cases your employer doesn't have to "supply you work". If you are 75% disabled and can't do the jobs available then worker's comp is going to be your best means of compensation. Your employer doesn't have to create a job just for your abilities - that is the rationale behind the disability scheme in the first place.

[tupac]

Since you are out of work due to an injury you cannot qualify for unemployment.
No they are not discriminating they are protecting themselves from future lawsuit. If they assign you tasks that exacerbate your injury you would sue and they know it. You will just have to play the waiting game. If you are 100% disabled then it is time to apply for Social Security Disability.

[naseem]

Unfortunately, once you are injured at work and collect on a worker's comp claim, there are very few employers who will hire you. They are afraid of future injuries and claims.

Your old employer has no obligation to give you work hours. You need to stop trying to go back there to work and start searching for a different job elsewhere. The other option is to go to school. That might be a good idea, further education is never a waste of time.

If you are 75% disabled, then you must be available to work the remaining 25%, which would be 10 hours each week. Surely you can find something that will give you 10 hours a week.

Unemployment is out of the question because that requires that you be look for and available to work full time.