Perhaps You Shouldn't Post: Social Media Posts Can Trip Up Worker's Compensation Claims

If you're filing for or are receiving worker's compensation due to an injury, be very careful how you manage your social media accounts. Your posts are as public or private as you make them, and worker's compensation investigators take full advantage of any public posts to find a reason to pull benefits from people who appear to be frauds. Unfortunately, you can get caught in the crossfire if you aren't careful about how you phrase your posts.

Fraud Prevention

Worker's compensation fraud is a real problem, and social media is often used to find people who are doing things they are supposedly unable to do. For example, someone who is receiving worker's compensation benefits for supposedly having an injured back shouldn't be doing anything to stress that injury. However, if that person suddenly posts pictures from a snowboarding trip showing him doing very acrobatic moves, an investigator might question the person's injury claim.

Investigators can't break into your account, and they can't pretend to be someone they're not in order to friend you and gain access to your posts. But they can freely read your public posts and anyone else's public posts that involve you. There is a beneficial side to this; being able to see these accounts does help stop fraud.

Misinterpretation Prevention

But it can also lead to misunderstandings and misinterpretations. For example, if you're on worker's compensation for an injured back and can't lift heavy things, and you write a post about how you and your friends cleaned out your house and yard last week, that could be totally misinterpreted. You might have spent the entire time putting photos in a photo album as part of the cleanup, but your post could make it sound like you were out there hauling branches and old furniture out to the curb. An investigator could decide that you're faking your injury, and that could ruin your benefits.

Even though investigators and insurance companies should double-check that what they're seeing is correct, sometimes they don't. People can end up having their benefits suddenly cut off.

So, even if you're legitimately injured and not doing anything you shouldn't, you need to be very careful about what you post. If in doubt, maybe you shouldn't post everything. The chances of a misunderstanding are too great and could have serious consequences for you. This is one time when taking a social media break could be a very good idea. To learn more, visit Dunnigan & Messier P.C. 

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