Georgia Workers' Compensation Lawyer Blog

If you have a Georgia workers' compensation claim and use social media, such as MySpace, FaceBook, Foursquare, and the like, please be aware that your status updates, pictures, and check-in locations are likely monitored by investigators, adjusters, and defense attorneys.  Hopefully, by now, most folks realize their internet exclamations aren't private.

However, even if your updates and posts are set to "friends only," a workers' compensation administrative law judge may issue an Order forcing you to give up your personal computer for inspection by the insurance company.  It happened earlier this week in Macon, Georgia.

My Atlanta workers' compensation lawyers' office does not knowingly represent claimants who are malingering or being less than honest about the extent of their injuries, but we still let our clients know that creating a perception that their abilities are greater than they truly are after an accident will come back to "bite" them.  So don't do it.

Workers' compensation clients sometimes call to tell me how strongly they identify with Rockwell, who told us in 1984 that somebody was watching him.  Why is this?

Sometimes when an adjuster believes a workers' comp claimant is being dishonest about how injured he is, the adjuster will hire an investigator to follow the claimant for a day or two with a video camera.  If you're on workers' compensation benefits and see someone who appears out of place or to be following you, I recommend smiling and waiving.  Or, you can do as one claimant did when I was still defending insurance companies, and call the police, which will certainly embarrass the investigator and probably ensure that he won't follow you again.

Surveillance is admissible if the proper foundation is laid, but if your attorney does not frequently handle Georgia workers' compensation claims, he or she may not know to request  surveillance before trial or how to address it when it is sent.  I recommend working with an experienced Atlanta workers' compensation attorney who has faced issues like this from both sides of a workers' comp claim.  Otherwise, your claim may go the way of Rockwell's singing career.