Can You Be Fired While You Have a Missouri Workers’ Comp Claim?
Yes – sometimes lawfully, sometimes not. Here’s the honest map of the difference.
WHY THIS MATTERS
This is the question behind almost every anxious first phone call: “Can they fire me for this?” The honest answer has two halves – one uncomfortable, one protective – and you need both to make good decisions.
Uncomfortable half: Missouri is an at-will employment state. Having an open workers’ comp claim does not make you unfireable, and being terminated while on comp is not automatically illegal.
Protective half: You cannot lawfully be fired because you exercised your comp rights (§ 287.780), because of a disability the ADA protects, or in violation of FMLA rights – and being fired does not end your comp benefits.
The whole subject lives in the gap between “while” and “because.” Let’s map it.
THE BASIC RULE: “WHILE” vs. “BECAUSE”
Lawful (generally): a layoff that would have happened anyway; position elimination in a real restructuring; termination for genuine misconduct or documented performance problems that predate the injury; inability to perform the job after FMLA and ADA obligations are exhausted (more below).
Unlawful: termination where your exercise of comp rights was a motivating factor – the current § 287.780 standard: it “actually played a role… and had a determinative influence.” Also unlawful: firing you because of a covered disability rather than engaging in the ADA’s accommodation process, or interfering with FMLA rights.
Employers know this line too – which is why retaliatory terminations rarely announce themselves. They arrive dressed as attendance policies, restructurings, and suddenly discovered performance issues. That’s why evidence patterns, not labels, decide these cases. (see: Retaliation article for the full evidence playbook)
THE FOUR LEGAL FRAMEWORKS THAT DECIDE YOUR SITUATION
1. At-will employment – the default. No contract, no union? Then the question is never “was firing me fair,” but “was the real reason a prohibited one.”
2. § 287.780 retaliation – prohibits comp-motivated termination and gives you a separate civil damages action. Timing, before-and-after paper trails, statements, and comparator evidence build these cases.
3. FMLA – if you’re eligible (it takes a 50+ employee company, a year on the job, and 1,250 hours worked – many workers have no FMLA at all), 12 workweeks of job protection, usually running concurrently with comp leave from early in your absence. After week 12, FMLA’s protection ends – but the other frameworks don’t.
4. ADA – if your injury leaves you with a qualifying disability, your employer (15+ employees) must engage in the interactive process and consider reasonable accommodations – including modified duties, equipment, schedule changes, reassignment to a vacant position, and additional unpaid leave beyond FMLA – unless it proves undue hardship. An employer who fires you at week 13 without ever considering accommodation may have an ADA problem even if the FMLA math was clean.
SPECIAL MISSOURI WRINKLE: “POST-INJURY MISCONDUCT” AND YOUR BENEFITS
Termination doesn’t end your comp claim – medical treatment and permanency benefits continue on their own track. But Missouri statute adds one important rule about temporary benefits: if you’re terminated from post-injury employment based on your post-injury misconduct, TTD and TPD benefits are not payable (§ 287.170.4).
A HYPOTHETICAL EXAMPLE
The people and numbers in this example are invented to show how the arithmetic works. They are not real clients, and no figure here says anything about what any actual case – including yours – is worth.
Two terminations, same warehouse:
Rosa reports a shoulder injury in June. In July, the company loses its biggest contract and lays off 40 of 200 workers by seniority; Rosa, hired last year, is cut along with 39 uninjured coworkers. Painful – but on these facts, likely lawful. Her comp benefits continue unchanged; whether unemployment belongs anywhere in her picture is a question for her lawyer before she certifies anything, because its able-and-available certification can collide with a comp claim.
Dan reports a shoulder injury in June. In July he’s written up – first time in six years – for “slow pace.” In August his supervisor asks when he’s “going to drop this claim thing.” In September he’s fired for “performance.” Same word – “terminated” – entirely different legal animal: timing, pretext pattern, statements. Dan’s comp claim continues and he likely has a § 287.780 case in circuit court.
NURSE ATTORNEY TIP: From the day you report an injury, quietly build your own file at home: performance reviews you already have, the employee handbook, write-ups, texts, and a dated log of comments and changes. If a termination ever comes, don’t sign anything on the spot – severance agreements offered to injured workers often include releases of exactly the claims described in this article. “I’d like a few days to review this” is always a permissible sentence.
IF IT HAPPENS: YOUR FIRST-WEEK CHECKLIST
- Don’t sign anything before a lawyer reads it (severance, “voluntary resignation,” releases)
- Save everything: termination letter, emails, texts, final pay stub, benefits notices
- Confirm your comp benefits continue – medical and any owed TTD don’t end with the job (watch for a “misconduct” cutoff attempt)
- Calendar COBRA deadlines for health insurance
- Ask a lawyer about unemployment before certifying anything
- Evaluate retaliation/ADA/FMLA claims promptly – separate deadlines apply
QUESTIONS TO ASK YOUR LAWYER
- Based on my timeline, does this look like “while” or “because”?
- Did my employer satisfy its FMLA and ADA obligations before terminating me?
- They’re calling it misconduct – can they cut off my TTD?
- What does this severance agreement actually release?
- How does my termination affect settlement value and my wage-loss picture?
- Should I be filing for unemployment, and what do I say about the separation?
KEY TAKEAWAYS
Missouri employers can lawfully terminate injured workers for genuine, injury-neutral reasons, and cannot lawfully terminate them because they claimed comp, because of disability without ADA process, or in violation of FMLA. Your comp benefits survive termination (with a litigable “post-injury misconduct” exception for temporary benefits). The difference between lawful and unlawful lives in evidence: timing, paper trails, statements, and comparators. Document from day one, sign nothing quickly, and get the full picture – § 287.780, ADA, FMLA, unemployment – evaluated together.
Educational content, not legal advice; no attorney-client relationship. Termination cases are intensely fact-specific – consult a licensed Missouri attorney promptly about your situation.
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