Split High Court Rejects Injured Worker's Retaliation Claim

A divided West Virginia high court ruled that an injured worker failed to prove his former employer had refused to rehire him in retaliation for his having filed a workers' compensation claim as a matter of law.Case: Smith v. Apex Pipeline Services, No. 11-1610, 04/04/2013, published.Facts: Jason S. Smith went to work for an Apex Pipeline Services project in Boone County in September 2008. At the end of the workday on Sept. 30, 2008, two pipes were laid side by side diagonally across a trench so that they could be lowered into the trench for welding the next morning. After the side bo...