We have often written that some employers try to deny workers' compensation by misclassifying an injury or even misclassifying an employee. This is often illegal, and it is always wrong.

Many times, employers will try to argue that an employee's workplace injury did not occur on the job. Recently, OSHA fined a major commuter railroad $142,000 for just such an offense.

An employee for Metro-North commuter railroad says the company tried to misclassify his injury, and that they also denied him a promotion based on his safety record. He is an ironworker but was aspiring to be a locomotive engineer.

In 2008, the man suffered a knee injury at work. According to a spokeswoman for Metro-North, the injury occurred during lunch and the man had only sued in order to avoid medical co-payments. The company classified his injury as non-work-related.

When he applied for a promotion, he says that Metro-North denied his request based partially on his safety record. He said: "In my situation, management was not willing to listen to my safety concerns and became relentless and purposeful in their efforts to retard my career advancement."

Thankfully, the man fought the decision and recently found justice. Earlier this month, OSHA ordered Metro-North to promote the man, as well as to pay him nearly $142,000 in damages, compensation and expenses.

OSHA officials said that both the injury misclassification and the denial for promotion were discriminatory. According to OSHA's New England regional administrator, companies should not include an employee's safety record when considering a promotion because that behavior "may deter employees from reporting on-the-job injuries for fear of financial or career consequences."

Source: The Wall Street Journal, "OSHA orders Metro-North to pay $142,000 to worker," Aug. 10, 2011