No employer may discharge or demote any employee because the employee has instituted or caused to be instituted, in good faith, any proceeding under the South Carolina Workers' Compensation Law (Title 42 of the 1976 Code), or has testified or is about to testify in any such proceeding.
Any employer who violates any provision of this section is liable in a civil action for lost wages suffered by an employee as a result of the violation, and an employee discharged or demoted in violation of this section is entitled to be reinstated to his former position. The burden of proof is upon the employee.
Any employer shall have as an affirmative defense to this section the following: wilful or habitual tardiness or absence from work; being disorderly or intoxicated while at work; destruction of any of the employer's property; failure to meet established employer work standards; malingering; embezzlement or larceny of the employer's property; violating specific written company policy for which the action is a stated remedy of the violation.
The failure of an employer to continue to employ, either in employment or at the employee's previous level of employment, an employee who receives compensation for total permanent disability, is in no manner to be considered a violation of this section.
The statute of limitations for actions under this section is one year.
HISTORY: 1986 Act No. 451, eff May 26, 1986.
Structure South Carolina Code of Laws
Title 41 - Labor and Employment
Chapter 1 - General Provisions
Section 41-1-10. Employers shall post certain labor laws.
Section 41-1-20. Unlawful discrimination against union members.
Section 41-1-25. Employee benefits, establishment by political subdivisions prohibited; definitions.
Section 41-1-40, 41-1-50. Repealed by 2010 Act No. 137, Section 8, eff March 31, 2010.
Section 41-1-65. Employers granted immunity from liability for disclosure of information.
Section 41-1-85. Personnel action based on use of tobacco products outside of workplace prohibited.
Section 41-1-100. Form of notice required by Section 41-1-90.