Can my husband be fired from his job if we sue his employer for a dog attack on her property?

Question

I was attacked by a pitbull in the mobile home park I live in and my husband works for. If we attempt to make a claim, can his employer fire him? Can we be evicted? I've already been threatened by the landlord/employer. Due to the park managers negligence and lying claiming the dog was a service dog, which it was not,  among the numerous verbal and written warning on the behavior of the dog to the other tenant who had only lived her for approximately 3 months, and even ignoring their own rules and regulations by even allowing this dog I to the park, they are able to be held liable. We have lived here for almost 8 years and my husband has worked here for 7 years. We've never had any problems with paying our rent nor have we ever caused any problems here. My husband has been a hardworking, loyal employee and has never had any problems at work. I just want to make sure we can't be evicted and him fired.

Stephen Arnold Black · Answer

Anyone can sue for anything but they won’t win in your fact pattern. A person fired from a job can sue based on a theory of “retaliatory discharge”. Additionally, a tenant can defend against an eviction based upon the defense of “retaliatory eviction.” 
If you want to be sure that you don’t face these problems if you sue for your injury damages, you can negotiate a settlement for your damages AS WELL AS write into the settlement agreement “a promise by the landlord to not take any retaliatory eviction action or take any retaliatory discharge action against your husband”. Finally make sure you retain counsel who promises to file a lawsuit. Many attorneys just try to settle the case without doing the hard work of filing a lawsuit, doing discovery,  taking depositions and hiring medical experts to maximize the clients recovery.

Roberto M. Vazquez · Answer

I handle landlord/tenant and dog bite claims statewide. 
 
As for the landlord/tenant aspect of your question, your lease should protect you. If you have a one-year lease and are in compliance with all of its terms, then the landlord has no justification in trying to evict you. Florida Statue 83.64 says "It is unlawful for a landlord...to bring or threaten to bring an action for possession or other civil action, primarily because the landlord is retaliating against the tenant." 
 
As for the employment aspect, that is a little trickier and it not really my area of law. However, I can tell you there are protections against firing someone based on racial discrimination, sex-based discrimination, in retaliation for reporting sexual harassment, in retaliation for filing a wage and hour complaint, or for another unlawful reason. You should speak with an employment attorney to see if a firing would constitute retaliatory conduct. Best of luck!

Q: Can my husband be fired from his job if we sue his employer for a dog attack on her property?