Was Performing Arts Center Worker’s Cane Just a Prop?

Claimants may sometimes exaggerate their injuries during medical examinations. But as one case shows, surveillance videos–especially multiple videos taken prior to and after exams–rarely lie.

A maintenance worker for a performing arts center hurt himself at work twice in 2013, injuring his shoulders, arm, ankle, lower back, and heel. He received wage replacement benefits and ongoing medical care. But was it all an act?

The claimant underwent various independent medical examinations at the behest of his employer between 2018 and 2021. Unbeknownst to the claimant, he was sometimes on film as he entered the IME or as he left and went on with his daily activities afterward. The surveillance videos were taken over 12 days between 2018 and 2021.

According to the video, the claimant apparently needed a cane to walk when he arrived at the IME and during the IME. Afterward, however, he seemed to do just fine without it. In fact, videos showed him walking up and down stairs with ease and lifting heavy objects, including multiple mattresses, box springs, boxes, and furniture. One video showed him carrying an almost full five-gallon jug of liquid with apparent ease. 

Under New York law,  if a workers’ compensation claimant makes a false statement or representation to obtain benefits, the claimant will be disqualified from receiving compensation directly attributable to the false statement or representation.

The Workers’ Compensation Board also has authority to impose a lifetime ban on the claimant from receiving any future wage replacement benefits. The Board generally only imposes this penalty where the claimant’s deception has was egregious or severe.

The Board disqualified the claimant from compensation for his injuries, which required him to forfeit benefits received during the period of the videos. It also barred him from receiving future wage replacement benefits. The claimant appealed that decision.

Was the Board justified in disqualifying and penalizing him?

A. Yes. According to the video evidence, his deception went on for years.

B. No. There were only 12 days during which videos were taken. That was not enough evidence that he was misrepresenting his injuries.

If you selected A, you agreed with the court in Tirado Brennan v. Symphony Space, Inc., No. CV-22-2386 (N.Y. App. Div. 03/27/25), which held that the videos showed the claimant was severely exaggerating his limitations.

The videos demonstrated that the claimant functioned normally, and that he had been, at least to a great extent, play-acting–at least, during the years in which the videos were taken. The court disagreed with the claimant’s argument that the videos merely show “a few instances of atypical behavior” over the years.

“Substantial evidence, including the medical testimony and reports and the surveillance videos and reports, supports the Board's finding that claimant feigned or exaggerated the extent of his disability and his physical capabilities to the IME physicians over the course of years and knowingly made material misrepresentations for the purpose of influencing his workers' compensation claim,” the court wrote.

Given the extent of the deception, the court declined to reverse the Board’s decision to disqualify the claimant and to permanently bar him from future benefits.

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