by Dave Knechel

Created on: June 18, 2008   Last Updated: March 09, 2012

Witness For The Persecution

A friend of mine was once a workers' compensation mediator for the state of Florida. Today, he is a judge. In the capacity of mediator, his job was to try to settle disputes between opposing parties before they reached the court level. This way, courts wouldn't be bogged down by cases that cost taxpayers money. The added benefit is that it also frees up the court system to expedite other, sometimes more important issues.

Occasionally, he would share some of his experiences. Of course, he didn't fill me in on all of the details, like the person's name. His point was to illustrate how atrocious and stupid some of the issues with workers' compensation were. One story, in particular, was comical and just goes to show how far people will go to prove how disabled they are and what they will do to collect money that probably doesn't rightfully belong to them. I'm sure we've all seen or heard stories of some guy who claims he is 100% disabled until an insurance investigator produces a video of him chopping down a tree and lugging 100 lb. pieces of firewood around. This is the type of guy who limps everywhere until he's sure no one is watching. Oh, my aching back! Then, he goes about his normal, everyday routine, as if nothing was wrong.

My friend had a nice, big office and almost the same power as a judge, but his job was to try to come to some sort of settlement before it reached a court room. Taking sides was not part of his job description and he didn't always render a decision, either. That was when it went to the next level. The cases generally involved an employee trying to prove his disability and an insurance company countering by denying a claim or attempting to reduce payments for whatever reason. Here is one of those stories.

One afternoon, a poor fellow came to my friend's office with his attorney to counter the company's questions of disability. The attorney claimed how his client was totally disabled and for the rest of his life, he would not be able to work or provide any kind of income to sustain his modest lifestyle. No one was present from the company he formerly was employed by to answer to the charges. The only thing the company provided was one little piece of evidence, thanks to the insurance investigator.

"Do you know," my friend began, "that the insurance investigator followed this client day after day and night after night?"

"Yes, I'm sure," the lawyer answered, "and he found nothing. My client is incapable of working

• 1
• 2
• Next Page >>