Court Opinion

ID: 9771773
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-29 16:53:00.110651+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:31:36.487701
License: Public Domain

CAMPBELL, Justice,
concurring and dissenting.
I concur that an employee discharged for good faith filing of a claim under the Worker’s Compensation Act is entitled to reasonable damages suffered. I do not agree that “reasonable damages suffered” includes punitive damages.
Article 8307c, Section 1 creates a tort cause of action not previously recognized at common law. However, the statute does not recognize varying degrees of culpability or misbehavior in the act of firing. Is there a distinction between the methods of firing that gives rise to issues on punitive damages? Does it make a difference whether an employee is fired in a person-to-person confrontation, by telephone, or by a manager at the direction of the employer? I see no logical distinction between methods of firing; an employee is either on the payroll or not. Regardless of how the employee was discharged, the net result is that the employee was terminated for filing, in good faith, a worker’s compensation claim. There is nothing about the method of firing or the act that gives rise to punitive damages.