Actress Accused of Nearly $97,000 in Workers' Compensation Fraud

Los Angeles, CA (WorkersCompensation.com) – “Yellowstone” actress Q’orianka Kilcher has been accused of collecting nearly $97,000 in fraudulent workers’ compensation benefits, officials said.   

On July 11, the California Department of Insurance said in a press release that Kilcher had been charged with two felony counts of workers’ compensation fraud. Kilcher allegedly collected $96,838 in benefits after she injured her neck and should while filming “Dora and the Lost City of Gold,” officials said.   

Kilcher is best known for her portrayal of Pocahontas in the 2005 film “The New World” directed by Terrence Malick. Kilcher also appeared in the title role of “Princess Kaiulani,” a 2009 film about the colonization of Hawaii. She played Kawilaka, an Inca princess, in the “Dora” film.   

In October 2018, officials said, Kilcher injured her neck and right shoulder on the Dora set. According to her attorney, Michael Becker, she was a passenger in a production vehicle when the injury occurred.   

After seeing a doctor a few times that year, Kilcher stopped treatment and did not respond to the insurance company handling her claim on behalf of her employer.   

According to the Department of Insurance, an investigation found that Kilcher collected the payments between Oct. 14, 2019 and Sept. 9, 2021.  

In October 2019, officials said, Kilcher contacted the insurance company to say that she needed treatment. Kilcher told the doctor handling her claim that she had been offered work since her injury, but that she had been unable to work for more than a year because the pain in her next was too severe, officials said. Based on her statements to the doctor, she started receiving temporary total disability benefits.   

However, investigators found that Kilcher had worked on the television show “Yellowstone” from July 2019 to October 2019. Kilcher was in four episodes of the hit Kevin Costner-led series. Kilcher played Angela Blue Thunder in the series’ third season, which aired on the Paramount Network in 2020.   

Her work on the series contradicted her statements to the doctor, the investigation found. According to records, she returned to the doctor and started receiving disability benefits five days after her last day on the set of the popular show.  

Investigators said the doctor on her claim stated that if they had known about her recent employment history, they would never have granted her the disability payments.   

In all, Kilcher received more than $96,000 in disability benefits between October 2019 and September 2021, official said.   

Kilcher self-surrendered herself to authorities, the insurance department said. Although Kilcher was arraigned and pleaded not guilty on May 27, the department announced the charges Monday. In a statement to Variety, Becker denied the allegations and said that his client “never intentionally accepted benefits that she did not believe she was entitled to.”   

“As such, Ms. Kilcher will vigorously defend herself and asks that she be afforded the presumption of innocence both in and outside the courthouse,” Becker said.   

Becker said his client had never been deceptive.   

“Third party doctors verified her injury and entitlements to benefits,” Becker said in his statement. “Ms. Kilcher was at all times candid with her doctors and treatment providers.”   

Becker said that his client also provided regular updates to her caseworker at the Division of Workers’ Compensation.   

The Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office said that California law prohibits misrepresenting injuries to medical providers in order to collect workers’ compensation benefits.   

Kilcher’s next court date is Aug. 7, the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office said. If convicted, Kilcher faces a fine of $50,000 and up to five years in prison for each charge.