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Webb Wheel Products6/3/2005
as a matter of law. Contradictions in testimony may diminish a party's credibility, but the truthfulness of the testimony is an issue to be resolved by the trier of fact."
(Citation omitted.) If the jury believed that Hill told Hanvey that he was being "let go" instead of "laid off," then the jury could have concluded that Hanvey indeed had been discharged from his employment. If Hill wrote the comments that appear on the exit form after Hanvey signed it, then the jury could have concluded that Hanvey had been discharged and that the subsequent writings were an attempt to alter the record after the fact to show something different than that which actually occurred. In sum, the jury had before it substantial evidence indicating that Hanvey was discharged and not merely laid off, and its verdict reflects its obvious conclusion that that was indeed the case.
D. Causal Connection
Circumstantial evidence of a causal connection between a workers' compensation claim and an employee's discharge is appropriate in retaliatory-discharge actions. Culbreth v. Woodham Plumbing Co., 599 So. 2d 1120 (Ala. 1992). This Court identified in Aldridge certain factors that can be considered as circumstantial evidence of a causal connection between an employee's filing a workers' compensation claim and that employee's discharge:
"'1) knowledge of the compensation claim by those making the decision on termination, 2) expression of a negative attitude toward the employee's injured condition, 3) failure to adhere to established company policy, 4) discriminatory treatment in comparison to similarly situated employees, 5) sudden changes in an employee's work performance evaluations following a workers' compensation claim, and 6) evidence that the stated reason for the discharge was false.'"
854 So. 2d at 564-65 (quoting Chhim v. University of Houston, 76 S.W.3d 210, 218 (Tex. Ct. App. 2002)). Furthermore, we observed that " any states also consider ' roximity in time between the filing of the workers' compensation claim and discharge' a persuasive factor in establishing a causal connection." Aldridge, 854 So. 2d at 565 (quoting Rebarchek v. Farmers Coop. Elevator & Mercantile Ass'n, 272 Kan. 546, 555, 35 P.3d 892, 899 (2001)).
Several of the foregoing elements are present in this case. Hanvey was injured on July 31, 2000, filed a worker's compensation claim shortly thereafter, and was not able to work for two and one-half months. He returned to work on October 18 and was discharged the next day, October 19, 2000, his second day back at work, after he asked his supervisor for some Tylenol brand pain medication for his back pain. Hanvey did not ask to leave work or to rest; he did not complain that he could not do the job in the woodpile. He merely asked for over-the-counter pain medication.
As previously stated, it is undisputed that the decision-maker or makers in this case knew the Hanvey was injured and that he had filed a claim for workers' compensation benefits. Some of Webb Wheel's witnesses testified that Link was the sole decision-maker. Link testified that he knew Hanvey had suffered a back injury that was work-related. Link explained in his testimony, however, that Allen and individual supervisors such as Hill were involved in selecting particular employees to be laid off during the workforce reduction. Allen and Hill were also clearly aware that Hanvey had been injured, that he had received workers' compensation benefits, and that he had just returned to work.
Hanvey contends that Webb Wheel's representatives expressed a negative attitude toward him and other employees after they were injured and had filed workers' compensation
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