Georgia Workers Compensation blog

Jodi Ginsberg's Georgia Workers' Compensation Blog

Are You More at Risk of Insurance Company Surveillance During the Coronavirus Crisis of 2020?

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Are you more at risk for surveillance by the workers’ compensation insurance company during the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic of 2020?

Workers’ compensation insurance companies hire private investigators to secretly photograph and videotape injured workers lifting, carrying, walking, bending, stooping and performing other physical activities that are outside of doctor’s orders. Although you may not like the idea of a private investigator hiding in the bushes across the street and filming you and your family with a long zoom lens, surveillance like this is legal under Georgia law and it could very well happen in your case.

Normally a private investigator would have to follow you around but with everyone “sheltering in place” you are much more likely to be in one place – at home – with other family members. The private investigator’s job is much easier because he does not have to follow you around.

Insurance companies use videotape and photographs to try to cut off your benefits or to malign your character in the eyes of your treating doctors.  Further, damaging videotape – even if does not accurately reflect what is really going on in your life – can greatly damage the settlement value of your case.

You may be bored sitting at home or just having a good day and tempted to do a little yard work, gardening or home repair on a warm spring or summer day. Remember that the investigator who snaps photos of you cutting the grass or unloading groceries does not see you lying in bed for the next two days in terrible pain because you pushed yourself.

As tempted as you may be to test your limits, you should not. First, remember that your doctor gave you lifting, walking and other activity restrictions for a reason – to help you recover faster. Second, even five minutes of damaging video – edited from 2 hours of raw video footage – can paint you as a faker or malingerer even if that photo or brief video clip misrepresents you entirely.

If you are not currently represented and have questions about how insurance companies use private investigators to follow you with a video camera, please let me know.

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Jodi Ginsberg

Attorney at Ginsberg Law Offices
Attorney Jodi Ginsberg represents employees who are injured on the job and who need medical care and missed wage benefits available under Georgia's workers' compensation laws.