Employee left but claim got denied - do I have to hire her back Massachusetts

[jbarsam]

So an employee left because of a supposed work injury and long story short the disability claim got denied. Am I obliged to let her come back to work? It's been about 7 weeks since the whole thing started and she put the claim through. At this point we have hired someone and moved on from her and she has been acting inappropriately and I would rather not have her come back unless I am legally obliged to. Please advise!

[Betty3]

Did FMLA leave apply?

[jbarsam]

no it did not apply

[cbg]

Was it, or was it not, work related? In MA it makes a difference.

I'm not concerned with whether a disabilty claim was allowed or disallowed - I'm only concerned with whether your workers comp carrier agreed that it was a work related injury.

[jbarsam]

No, they concluded it was not a work related injury.

[cbg]

If it was not work related then you are not required to hire her back.

If it had been work related, under MA law you would have been required to give her first consideration for any jobs you had open for which she was qualified. You would not have been required to create a new job for her, or fire someone else to give her, her job back, but if you had any open positions, now or in future, for which she was qualified, you would have been required to put her at the top of the list.

But since it was not work related you don't have to do anything if you don't want to.

[eerelations]

How come FMLA didn't apply?

[jbarsam]

We do not have 50 employees.