The New York State Inspector General’s Office recently announced developments in two workers' compensation fraud schemes involvingLong Island residents who failed to report off-the-books earnings in order to keep workers' compensation benefits flowing. While New York is not a state in which we practice, these cases hit close to home (and not just because there's cheesesteak involved).
The first case involved a UPS supervisor who told doctors and the Workers' Compensation Board on numerous occasions that a back injury from a workplace fall in March 2021 left him sidelined from the workforce.Surveillance revealed that he was, in fact, on the sidelines - coaching soccer!While working as the boys' varsity soccer coach at St. John the Baptist HighSchool and as a sales representative for Lacrosse Unlimited, the individual kept $37,000 off the books and collected over $13,000 in workers' compensation benefits. As a result of a Workers' Compensation Fraud Inspector General's(WCFIG's) investigation, he was ordered to pay full restitution, pleaded down to a violation for disorderly conduct, and was sentenced to conditional discharge with community service.
The second case implicated a former logistics employee who pleaded guilty to Petit Larceny for fraudulently collecting workers’ comp benefits while operating his own cheesesteak food truck. Despite claiming he couldn’t work due to a back injury, he was caught flipping cheesesteaks and managing his mobile kitchen alongside his wife. Surveillance footage and social media posts exposed the scheme. Interestingly, investigators also found false filings asserting that the business had no employees or volunteers despite video showing multiple workers. He paid $27,069.84 in restitution and was sentenced to conditional discharge in connection with his guilty plea.
As New York State Inspector General Lucy Lang put so well,"fraud never takes a vacation... whether it's coaching on the sidelines or serving cheesesteaks from a food truck, working while collecting disability benefits - and lying about it - is a crime. Our team will continue to investigate and hold accountable those who attempt to exploit the system."
These cases illustrate the power of two very useful tools in workers' compensation litigation: surveillance and social media investigations.We've seen it all, from side hustlers claiming to be unable to work to claimants with a limp that magically heals when they leave an IME. Nothing beats finding the "smoking gun" in a workers' comp case... well, maybe a Philly Cheesesteak.
