The Ohio Supreme Court yesterday found that former Parma Police Officer Donald McNea could be considered to be gainfully employed by his drug dealing activities. It ordered him to repay the state for workers’ compensation payments he received from the date of his first confirmed unlawful sale of OxyContin. The court found that his activities…
Stress Claim? Flying the Unfriendly Skies When Your Pilot Crashes Without His Plane
Chalk another one up for the passengers. They told us after 9/11 that the rules of flying had changed. Never again would passengers sit idly by while someone threatened the safety of their flight. Time and time again that has proven to be true. Yesterdays JetBlue Flight 191, bound for Las Vegas from New York,…
Don’t Let That Finger Linger for the Plunder Down Under
I'm moving to Australia. From what I read of their WorkCover laws, the voices in my head could make me a very wealthy man. A woman who filed a claim for tinnitus she says was caused by excess use of her Blackberry has received $1.2 million in compensation over the last 5 years. Apparently she…
When the Saints Come Marching In, and They Are Paid to Break Your Arm
The news certainly surprised me. The National Football League yesterday issued precedent setting suspensions and fines against the New Orleans Saints for a program they developed to help create a winning strategy. That strategy? A bounty for taking an opposing player out of the game. The team actually paid players on the defensive line $1500…
Perhaps a Lack of Awareness, Not Cost Containment, Should Be Employers Biggest Concern
We've all heard the old adage, “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure”. It could be truer nowhere else than in the world of workers' comp, employment risk and workplace safety. A recent employer survey, however, tells me that an ounce of prevention might be pretty hard to come by. A just…
Florida Senate In Action (sort of) – Mike Bennett Video From Sarasota Roast
I recently wrote about a fundraising event I was chairing for a group I belong to, the Sertoma Club of Greater Sarasota. The event, the Sertoma Sarasota Celebrity Roast, this year featured Florida Senator Mike Bennett. As "RoastMaster" for the night, I am pleased to say it was a rousing success, and we raised over…
Google, Why am I the Face of Ohio Workers' Comp Fraud???
Recently an article I wrote about an episode of employee fraud was challenged by some members of the Work Comp Analysis Group on LinkedIn. They criticized me for highlighting employee fraud, which they claimed was minimal, while ignoring employer & carrier fraud, which they claimed was "rampant". In the interest of fairness, I decided to…
When Bad Things Happen to Good People – The Collapse of Impairment Resources is a Warning for All
Anyone who has met Dr. Chris Brigham probably had the same impression I did – an extremely polite and pleasant man, and an all around decent guy with a tremendous understanding of the industry and its needs. Brigham is founder of Impairment Resources, which until a few days ago reviewed medical records on workers' compensation…
The Riverwalk and Online Talk at the ABA: Building a Foundation for Online Investigations
It was cold and rainy here in San Antonio for the American Bar Association LEL & TIPS Mid Winter Conference, but the dialogue warmed things up rather rapidly inside. In a session discussing Social Networking and Investigations, Scott Catron, of Titan Investigations was giving a solid presentation on the guidelines for a proper online investigation…
Workers' Comp Fraud 101: Lesson 2 – When Shot in a Sex Club, Don't Lie About It
I don’t even know where to start on this one. I suppose I should mention that, as of this writing, the people I discuss have not yet been found guilty of fraud; their case just went to the jury yesterday. A man, shot in the back at a San Francisco sex club named Twist, is…