Court affirms denial of summary disposition of claim that employer retaliated against workers compensation claimant

In Garcia v. Laskowski, the Court of Appeals agreed with the trial judge who concluded that a genuine issue of material fact exists with regard to whether an employee was discharged because she had filed a workers compensation claim.  The case involved an RN who was dismissed after returning to work with restrictions.  Her supervisor's comment that "she wasn't going to be paid to sit and answer telephones," while not direct evidence of retaliation, helped establish a claim that jurors may deem sufficient to support an illegal retaliation claim, particularly given her prior positive evaluations.