January 20, 2025 at 7:21 am

His Supervisor Made An Illegal Request After An Injury, So Employee Took The Settlement And Scored Some Sweet Job Security

by Benjamin Cottrell

Source: Canva/Pixelshot, Reddit/PettyRevenge

Work injuries can be a career-ending event, but sometimes they open unexpected doors.

After his employer made a big oversight, one employee was able to turn their accident into a generous settlement — and it came with job security like no other.

Read on for the full story!

Know Your Injury Law!

I worked as the lumber opener at Home Depot.

The night crew ended their shift an hour after I arrived.

Every day, I would see the crew preparing products — except for one guy.

This particular employee looked particularly out of place.

He was always sweeping between the aisles or mopping, which seemed out of place as we contracted with a janitorial service.

I decided to ask how and why he was assigned this work.

It turns out, he had quite the story to tell.

The guy was hired as part of the overnight shift.

One evening, he was injured.

The injury wasn’t serious, but not minuscule either.

Due to the large turnover of employees, the supervisor inquired if the guy could stay until the shift ended because of the large number of tasks needing completion.

The guy agreed and completed the shift.

A few days later, the guy was at a family reunion.

It turns out, this was mega illegal on the employer’s part.

He shared the story with relatives, including his uncle, who is a lawyer.

Even though his uncle did not specialize in work injuries, the uncle was aware that the shift manager was required to send the guy home immediately — and asking him to stay was illegal.

The employee had a strong case.

The uncle explained the reason for such laws and offered to represent the guy for free.

These cases are frequently addressed by a settlement rather than going to court.

With initial hesitation, the guy agreed.

And the law was on his side too.

The result was a settlement.

I inquired about the amount, which the guy could not provide due to signing an NDA.

However, he did confirm that the amount was higher than most assumed.

I repeated the original question with more emphasis: Why was this guy still working at Home Depot?

But here’s where the story really starts to get good.

He smiled and answered.

As long as he arrived to work and completed his tasks, Home Depot could not fire him.

His uncle had said to immediately contact him if the job was terminated, as another lawsuit would occur.

The termination could easily be viewed as retribution for the settlement.

His employer tried to get the best of him.

Home Depot slowly lessened the guy’s hours and assigned menial tasks, anticipating that his patience would eventually end.

The guy informed me that he didn’t need the job anymore and finally had the money to attend college due to the settlement.

But this employee wasn’t going to go down without a fight.

However, in the months prior to college beginning, he would continue to work at Home Depot because his refusal to quit enraged the management.

I laughed and thought, “This guy is a legend!”

This one is a win for underdogs everywhere!

What did Reddit think?

Some employers just have no shame.

Source: Reddit/PettyRevenge

What this employer is doing may already be considered retaliation.

Source: Reddit/PettyRevenge

This employee really made out like a bandit, all things considered.

Source: Reddit/PettyRevenge

His employer may have been able to cut his hours, but they still couldn’t quite cut him loose.

Never underestimate the power of a good lawyer!

If you liked that post, check out this post about a woman who tracked down a contractor who tried to vanish without a trace.