In this video, we will address how long a private investigator can follow you after you have filed a workers’ compensation claim in California.
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In this video, we will address how long a private investigator can follow you after you have filed a workers’ compensation claim in California. My name is Matt Eason. I’ve been practicing employment and workers’ compensation rights here in Sacramento for over 25 years, and it’s not uncommon for our clients to have anxiety or fear that someone is following them as it relates to their claim. More importantly, we will discuss why they’re following you, what’s likely to happen, and what you should be concerned about.
The short and unfortunate answer as to how long they can follow you is the entire time. The reality of that is that they’re not going to. Certain types of cases lend themselves to being followed, and there are certain junctures in the case, and most of the time, you would be followed versus not being followed. For starters, to follow somebody in a workers’ compensation case costs a significant amount of money. Private investigators are not cheap, so if they’re going to investigate you, there has to be a basis for them to be willing to spend that money.
If you suffered an apparent on-the-job injury, and everybody knows you’re hurt, there is no likelihood they will try and follow you. For example, if you fell at a construction site and broke your leg. At the site, you were taken by ambulance to the hospital, and you had surgery at the hospital. Then there is no real reason to be concerned that they will follow you for some time. That injury happened. People saw it. The fact that you went to the hospital proves that you were injured. The fact that you had surgery on your leg demonstrates that you were injured. So, there’s no natural anxiety or reason to pay money to follow you for that injury.
In the alternative, if you have the type of injury that nobody saw occur, nobody knows for sure if you’re injured. The doctors may be somewhat conflicted about your limitations. Well, then, you are right to be followed because they want to try and find that you are hurt or if there is some evidence to exaggerate your injuries. For example, warehouse workers claim they can no longer lift anything over 20 pounds and did not have a specific injury that anyone had witnessed. The doctors, upon examination, found only soft tissue injuries. There’s probably a legitimate concern that someone would follow you, hoping they see you doing something you should not be doing.
Likewise, to go back to the prior person who broke their leg and had the surgery, if you were to fast forward past an average recovery time for that, and that person is claiming they can’t walk. There’s no medical evidence to support that other than subjective complaints; you should expect they will have someone follow you to try and catch you in the act of doing something you said you could not do. The point of it all boils down to you should not have any anxiety about being followed if your claims are straightforward.
To look at it another way, in the simplest of terms, if it’s clear that you were injured on the job, and it’s clear that you suffered an injury based on medical imaging, or medical diagnosis, then the chances of you being followed very small. In contrast, if there is a dispute about whether or not you were ever injured, it is more likely that your injuries are not as significant as you say they are. If the evidence doesn’t support you, it’s only your subjective testimony; there is a greater chance that they will follow you. The length of time they follow you depends on the size of your case and other factors, such as whether or not they’re succeeding in catching you in the act of doing things you should not do.
In short, if you’ve got clear evidence of an injury and clear evidence of ongoing problems from objective films and objective reports, then you really should not have any severe anxiety about being followed. Your injuries are substantiated. In contrast, if there is a genuine concern of you ever being hurt on the job, and more importantly, there’s a concern that your injuries are being inflated and you’re making things up, then there’s a greater chance you’ll be followed. The point is to be truthful in your workers’ compensation case. Be upfront, be frank, and you shouldn’t be anxious about what they see or don’t see because you are telling the truth.
If you’ve been injured on the job and your having anxiety about someone following you and want to know if it’s appropriate or not, when it will end, or how you get it to end, we hope you will consider reaching out to one of the worker compensation attorneys at Eason & Tambornini.
