Is your employer using surveillance?

Many employers or the workers’ compensation insurance companies will go to great lengths in order to avoid paying for an injured worker.

For example your employer will scour your past medical records for any tid-bit that might show a preexisting injury to give even the slightest reason to deny your claim. In addition, employers and insurance companies will often go beyond simply looking to your past medical records for a reason to deny your claim. In addition, they may look to deny your claim through the use of surveillance. As a result, it is imperative that you know what they might be looking for and also that you let your lawyer know everything (especially the unfavorable stuff) about your claim.

It is not uncommon for adjusters or defense lawyers to hire private investigators to follow you around without your knowledge

Video Surveillance

It is not uncommon for adjusters or defense lawyers to hire private investigators to follow you around without your knowledge. The investigators will hide for hours and take videos of you in public places hoping to catch some footage of you lifting something beyond your restrictions or engaging in an activity that your doctor might see as questionable given your injury. Although perfectly legal, these investigators often take hours and hours of video footage in what would seem like semi-private places or moments: weddings, grocery store, swimming pools, parks, getting in and out of your car, even your own yard. Most courts will even allow such footage as evidence in a workers’ compensation case.

Online Surveillance

Similarly, many employers and insurance companies have taken to the internet in search of another way to deny you workers’ compensation benefits. Blogs, message boards posts, and even social media websites (Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, etc.) could all be fair game: this includes past or present postings.

You should not be expected to give up everything in your life in fear of some investigator recording your every move… the point is for injured workers to simply keep these possibilities in mind when you have a workers’ compensation claim.

Of course, once you are involved in a workers’ compensation claim, you should not be expected to give up everything in your life in fear of some investigator recording your every move, nor should you give up your Facebook account and stop blogging about your kids. Instead, the point is for injured workers to simply keep these possibilities in mind when you have a workers’ compensation claim.

It is important to trust your lawyer. 

Furthermore, it is important to trust your lawyer. Let your lawyer know about anything that has happened in your past, and keep him or her updated on anything that happens after your work injury that might affect your claim. It is important for your lawyer to know everything about your case, good or bad, even if it involves something that you are ashamed of. Keep in mind, your lawyer is bound by confidentiality and cannot simply tell anyone about what you discuss. However, knowing everything about you sooner rather than finding out later from the insurance company, is going to help your lawyer get you the best results with your workers’ compensation claim.