KNOW YOUR RIGHTS: YOU MIGHT BE WATCHED!
By: Henry C. Davis, Esquire

          ARE YOU BEING WATCHED? If you are out of work because of a workers compensation covered accident, it is entirely possible. Insurance companies hire detectives to follow and videotape injured workers in hopes of finding a person is collecting benefits and working. Even if you are not doing anything outside your doctor’s orders and are not working, that does not mean you should not be concerned about surveillance. Often, a short bit of videotape taken out of context can allow an insurance company to claim you are capable of regular work activities because what you are seen on the tape doing is roughly the same as what some limited duty jobs require. Since the tape does not include the two hours of rest that was necessary immediately after doing the activity, the insurance company will insist that the short period of activity is proof that you can work. Often it is no such thing, but in this situation it is more about what they can make it look like than the actual truth of the matter. Many times the investigators will provide tape showing that an injured worker visited and spent time at a business owned by a family member. In those cases, insurance companies interpret the tape to mean that the injured worker is, in fact, working, despite the fact the injured worker is not being paid and is not engaging in activities exceeding the restrictions imposed by the treating doctor. All too often, injured workers lose benefits because of 15 or 20 minutes of videotape that looks like something it is not.