I never thought I'd be in this position honestly. I worked at a little manufacturing shop up near the Greenville line for about seven years, running some of the CNC machines and doing quality checks. Last October a machine jammed up and when I tried to clear it something kicked back and hit me square in the chest—broke a couple ribs and did some damage to my sternum that took months to heal up. I filed my claim, got my medical stuff approved, and was just waiting to get cleared by my doctor to go back when I got a letter in the mail saying my position had been eliminated due to "restructuring." My boss never called me, nobody warned me, just a letter. I called to ask what was going on and the HR person basically said they weren't required to hold my job forever and that I could reapply if any positions opened up in the future. I'm still not even fully cleared to go back to work anywhere and now I'm trying to figure out what happens to my workers comp if I'm technically not an employee anymore. A buddy of mine said that firing someone while they're out on a work injury is a huge red flag and that I should talk to a Greenville NY workplace injury lawyer about whether this was even legal, because it sure doesn't feel right. I'm also worried that now that I'm fired the insurance company is going to try to cut off my benefits even though I still can't work. Has anyone else had this happen to them? I'm already dealing with the physical recovery and now I've got this whole other nightmare to deal with and I honestly don't know where to even start.