Workers’ Comp Recipient Who Runs Marathons Charged with Fraud
While I have no doubt that the majority of persons out there seeking workers’ compensation for injuries sustained while on the job do indeed have debilitating injuries that compromise their ability to work, this next story shows that there are always people willing to exploit the system.
In Florida, a woman has been convicted of health care fraud in regards to the workers’ compensation claim she had successfully filed. The problem with her claim was that officials determined that the woman had participated in the Boston Marathon, in addition to 80 other long distance races.
This was done while she was collecting workers’ compensation. The woman, a postal worker in the state of Florida, had claimed to incur an injury to her lower back in May of 2009. She said that this injury impeded her ability to deliver the mail, her previous job. As a result, the post office put her on light duty and she no longer was required to deliver mail.
Unfortunately for her, video and photos of the woman taking part in triathlons and other events surfaced, and her times in such events actually got better after the alleged injury incident. That improvement is probably small solace to her, though, now that she’s been convicted of fraud and is staring down a possible 15 year jail sentence.
