What’s the golden rule when it comes to workers’ comp? Don’t try to make money somewhere else! It’s not that hard to follow, and yet, people are constantly getting busted for workers’ comp fraud! And in the most non-work-related ways!
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Case in point, a New Haven, Connecticut man was recently busted for workers’ comp fraud after he was caught running his own business selling baseball bats. The former Yale-New Haven hospital worker claimed he was injured in May of 2014 while working in the emergency room. It is unclear what type of injuries he sustained, but he was awarded $25,000 in workers’ comp benefits. The man could face up to 20 years in prison because workers’ comp fraud is a class B felony in Connecticut.
Another example includes a woman from Ohio who claimed she was injured on the job and no longer had use of her hands, one arm, and one leg. She would have gotten away with it too, if it wasn’t for those meddling police officers!
It all started when the woman was issued a speeding ticket, on a date following her claimed loss of ability to use her upper extremities. This got the attention of the Special Investigations Department (SID) of the Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation. The SID looked through the physician records and found that the woman was continuously advised by her doctor not to use her extremities but was reluctant to obtain some treatment that her doctor recommended.
The woman’s roommate even got involved, claiming she had to help the woman with daily activities and had even accompanied her to several doctor’s appointments. However, after looking into her bank records, the SID noticed numerous ATM and debit card transactions at the Mountaineer Casino located in Chester, West Virginia.
Upon viewing the casino’s surveillance video, the SID saw the woman in question walking around the casino with no visible limp and using a full range of motion with both arms. The Ohio Industrial Commission terminated her permanent disability benefits, placed her on 3 years of community service, and ordered her to pay restitution of $9,192.75.
These two examples make for great HRSBT content, but they also serve an important lesson: Don’t cheat the system; you will get caught!