Sporadic Disability
Doing personal injury fraud cases is a staple in the private investigation industry. Approximately twenty years ago, we were hired by a local self-insured government to investigate an employee who was currently out from work on disability. The client had received a tip that the person was not hurt, but rather, was faking his injuries so that he could stay home and collect disability benefits instead of working.
One common request we get from insurance companies is to perform what is called an Activities Check on a personal injury claimant. This is when the investigator performs surveillance on several occasions to determine what the person’s daily activities are, and to try and witness their physical and/or mental capabilities. Our investigator performed surveillance of the man on a day he was scheduled to attend an Independent Medical Examination (IME). He followed the man on this day as he and his partner left their home and headed toward the appointment in a nearby town. The man was seen exiting his home, walking out to his vehicle, getting in the driver’s seat, and driving off. He moved normally and did not show any sign of disability or impairment.
However, before arriving at the appointment, the couple made a stop at a medical supply store. There, the two were observed going inside the store and renting a wheelchair. Minutes later, the two rolled the chair out of the store and over to their car. They both were seen picking the chair up and loading it into the trunk of the car. They immediately left the area and minutes later, arrived at the medical offices. There, the two exited the vehicle and unloaded the wheelchair from the trunk. The man then took a seat in the wheelchair while his partner pushed him inside the building.
The man then took a seat in the wheelchair while his partner pushed him inside the building.
A couple of hours later, the man and the woman exited the building in the same fashion, with the woman pushing the man in the wheelchair. They arrived back at their vehicle, loaded the wheelchair back into the trunk and then drove off, again with the claimant driving.
The video our investigator obtained on this day of the man moving in two different fashions within minutes of one another was provided to the IME doctor. The man was immediately cleared to return to full duty and his disability benefits were terminated.