Smile! You’re on Workers’ Comp Camera, and We Saw What You Did!

Workers’ compensation stories never get old; and in Ohio, they seem to have a lot of stories related to workers’ comp fraud! In May of 2014, there were 14 people who were convicted of workers’ comp fraud! These convictions were the result of investigations conducted by the Bureau of Workers’ Compensation’s (BWC) Special Investigations Department (SID), which works to deter, detect, investigate, and prosecute workers’ compensation fraud.

Here are some very strange, but true, stories about Ohio workers’ comp fraud!

A Cleveland man was placed on probation and sentenced to 80 hours of community service after he filed a false claim for a faked injury while on the job. Sounds pretty standard, right? Wrong! He would have gotten away with it, if it weren’t for that darn meddling security camera! The night before his supposed injury, the security camera captured the man stomping a hole in a wooden floor. The next day, he placed his foot in the hole, laid down, and claimed to be injured. Due to the captured footage, BWC’s investigators were able to stop the claim before the employer lost any money.

In another strange event, a woman filed a false claim against a transportation service alleging she was injured on the job. However, the transportation service said the woman was never an employee, but she had applied for a job with the company. The investigation found that the woman was never hired by or employed by the company, and her claim was ultimately denied.

There’s also a story of a man who was collecting Temporary Total Disability benefits while he worked as a musician in a Beatles tribute band. An investigation found that the man continued sustained employment, as a musician, with the Abbey Road Band, between April 2012 and August 2013. The Industrial Commission of Ohio found the man had received $13,277.24 in benefits. On the day of the hearing, his attorney provided a check for the complete amount, and the man was ultimately fined $120 and ordered to pay court costs.

The BWC Administrator/CEO Steve Buehrer says, “Putting an end to fraud and prosecuting those who break the law helps protect those employer dollars and ensure they’re available to support Ohio’s injured workers in their time of need.” So, when the BWC and the SID “come together”, you know they’ll be fighting workers’ comp fraud!