Friday, December 14, 2007

Workers' Compensation and Spying


Last Saturday a colleague, that happens to be away from work due too a medical condition, called with an odd story of spying. Apparently Workers’ Compensation felt his medical ailments were either false or suspicious, as they planted a spy in a van with heavily tinted windows near his home to photograph his every move.

After taking a call from one of his neighbors, regarding the suspicious nature of this van, our colleague went outside to investigate the van, which prompted the spy van to drive away. With keys in hand our friend hobbled to his car and gave chase of the van. After a short three mile trip the van pulled over next to a sheriff, and our friend pulled over as well. The driver of the van spoke with the deputy and drove away, as our colleague walked over to speak with the officer. The officer told our friend the driver of the van identified himself as a spy for workers’ compensation, which left him dumbfounded.

This is not an isolated incident, two other colleagues have experienced similar situations, and one colleague was shown photographs from this blog that were taken well before his accident in the workplace.

I’m certain there are many cases of fraud committed by individuals on a daily basis, and they should be prosecuted to the fullest, when fraud is discovered.

But who is watching the watchers? Aaron Davis has an interesting article on an audit of workers’ comp, that reveals the waste and fraud occurring within the walls of workers’ compensation. Someone needs to start an investigation of workers’ compensation, which would save us millions of dollars per year.

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