The “F” word

“He told me to say I was hurt at a soccer game and not at work.   To not tell the Worker's Compensation insurance.  He said he would take care of all of my medical expenses and pay me under the table until I could return to work.”

My client  sat across from me in agony.  His employer did not have insurance and did not follow through with his promises.    He was fired soon after his accident.  He sat in my office,  torn meniscus in his knee, no medical treatment, no work, and in a lot of pain.

Worker's Compensation fraud comes in a lot of forms.  Under California law it is illegal for an employer to distort facts in order to avoid responsibility for a work related accident.   We hear a lot about injured workers "milking the system" in order to get free benefits.   The reality is that in decades of practice, we see way more employer side injury fraud.

Labor Code 3700.5 Failure to provide some type of Insurance coverage for Workers' Compensation may be a misdemeanor.

Insurance Code 1871.4 (a) (1)  It is illegal to make "knowingly make false or fraudulent...material representation for the purpose of obtaining or denyingany compensation." ( emphasis added) 

Fraud hurts all Californians.  Injured workers who are unjustly denied treatment, often end up in emergency rooms with low income medical insurance funded by the state picking up the tab.  The process for securing treatment and benefits against an illegally uninsured employer is complicated and lengthy.   It's a complicated issue, but there are two sides to the "F" word.  Bottom line, if an employer asks, never agree to distort or change how a work injury happened.   Honesty is always the only policy. 

Every case is different. Call us today for a free consultation with a lawyer.  

José A. Borrego 

Joseborregolaw.com

Workers Compensation, Personal Injury, Family Law

916 446 4911