As any defense lawyer can tell you, retaliation cases are some of the most problematic to deal with.  Further evidence of that arrived this week with news that a jury awarded $361,000 to a former employee of G&K Services for workers’ compensation retaliation.

Dubiel was injured on the job in a car accident.  He filed a report of injury for workers’ compensation purposes, after which G&K fired him.  G&K claimed that Dubiel had lied in a preemployment physical exam.  A Hennepin County jury disagreed, finding that Dubiel’s filing for work comp benefits was a motivating factor in his discharge, and awarding him $111,000 in lost wages and emotional distress, and another $250,000 in punitive damages.