When a person accepts a job in Chaska, Minnesota with the promise that he or she will be trained to perform the functions of that job, it is important that the employer fulfills that promise. This can be especially important for employees who work in potentially dangerous situations.
This was the case for an employee who was hired as a groundman for an electric company. Although the man informed his employer before he began working at the company that he did not have any training in substation work, he was told that he would be taught what he would need to know.
The man’s foreman instructed him to work outside his classification and told the man that if he did not, he would be fired. While performing a job inside a transformer, the man was shocked and lost consciousness for a brief period of time. He was taken to the hospital for treatment and was able to return to work the next day.
Just three days after the accident, the man was told that he was being fired for working outside his classification. When he attempted to contact the union to file a grievance, he was informed that he would be put on a no-hire list with the company for the rest of his life.
The man says the company’s workers compensation insurance did not cover the injury he sustained while on the job. He has filed a wrongful termination lawsuit against the company in which he is seeking lost wages and compensatory damages.
Source: The West Virginia Record, “Mason Co. man files wrongful termination suit,” April Bamburg, Aug. 25, 2014