Drew Davis v. Avron Truss Company, Inc.

The trial court found the fired plaintiff's return to work non-meaningful and awarded eighteen percent vocational disability. The plaintiff's misconduct was found irrelevant because he had not reached maximum medical improvement on the day he was fired. The trial court also awarded discretionary costs to the plaintiff. We find an employer may dismiss an injured employee for egregious misconduct, such as fighting with a fellow employee, regardless of the injured employee's medical status at the time of the misconduct. We therefore affirm the judgment of the trial court, but we modify the award to two and one-half times the impairment rating given by the employee's physician or fifteen percent. We also affirm the trial court's judgment fully with respect to discretionary costs.