Can an employer terminate an employee while he/she is receiving workers' compensation?

The injury may or may not have been received at the present employment location. Also, the employee fails to perform job by choice and causes disruption among the other employees. What rights does the employer have in such a case?

I'd like to thank both of you for your answers; I appreciate it.

Have you considered fully documenting this person's job performance and then addressing it with him/her in the form of a written warning(s)?

If the person fails to perform the job and has been fully aware of the situation and has been written up and counseled repeatedly, well, then it would seem that the injury has nothing to do with it if he/she fails to perform the job by choice.

I assume the employee has not told you this directly; you heard of it via the grapevine??...

Make sure the person has not been instructed by a physician to limit work activity or specific types of activities before addressing the performance issues.

You may want to consider contacting the Workers Compensation office in your state. Each state usually has a legal cousel that can give you recommendations (answers to specific questions) based on the facts you give them.

Depends on your state to some degree. If the employee failures can be documented with witnesses and the fact he/she not performing the job and is able--YES you can terminate. But be sure, because a lawsuit filed on the basis of this termination of an injured employee could be costly if you do not have all your facts documented.