A Texas man who reported he sustained a job-related injury while driving a truck and received income benefits from an insurance company was found driving a truck while collecting. Not a huge surprise. What was surprising was that he was also found to be climbing trees as part of a side business!
Texas Mutual Insurance uncovered evidence that the worker was currently self-employed in operating a tree-trimming business, as well as working for another company as a truck driver while receiving the income benefits due to his alleged disability.
A Travis County, Texas, district court has sentenced a San Antonio man to 2 years’ probation and $7,497 in restitution on deferred adjudication of workers’ compensation fraud-related charges, according to a press release from Texas Mutual Insurance.
Texas law requires claimants to contact their workers’ comp carrier when they return to work.
An attorney friend who worked a case involving an injured railway worker was able to show the jury footage of the plaintiff not only heaving a large piece of concrete by himself but also finishing it up with a he-man pose! Verdict for the defense, needless to say.