People share all aspects of their lives on sites like Facebook, Twitter, MySpace and Tumblr. However, sometimes the things people post can come back to haunt them. More and more often workers' compensation claim investigators and defense attorneys are using information people post on the internet to deny claims. Injured workers need to be cautious about what they put out into cyberspace to avoid others misinterpreting it and having the information potentially used against them.
Investigation on the Internet
Many attorneys have been successful at obtaining information from social networking websites and having that information admitted into evidence in court. Attorneys may request access to a plaintiff's e-mails, on-line journals or diaries and even passwords to social networking sites. Some social networking sites state in their privacy policies that they will respond to narrowly-tailored requests from courts for access to users' information.
If a claimant will not give the defense attorney access to his or her social media pages, the attorney may access the information through the claimant's friends' pages or try to get it directly from the site itself. Privacy claims against this action have failed in various courts, since by its very nature of social media implies that the poster intended the information on the site to be public to a certain extent.
Attorneys are then able to access photos, comments and status updates by a workers' compensation benefit claimant in an attempt to verify if the employee really was injured to the extent he or she claimed.
Things to Avoid in Internet Posts
Employees making workers' compensation claims may want to avoid putting the following things on social networking sites to prevent potential damage to their claims:
- Comments or pictures of work activities
- Comments or pictures of other vigorous activities that may cause someone to question the validity of your injury
- Make sure older photos are clearly labeled with a date
Workers' compensation systems are supposed to provide a safety net for injured workers so they have money to pay bills while recovering from workplace injuries.
Unfortunately, many employers and insurance companies resist paying benefits and hunt for excuses not to do so. If you have been injured on the job, and are having trouble receiving benefits, contact an experienced attorney who can advise you of your options.
