Workers’ Compensation Fraud Cases Pop Up Across the Country

Wahkiakum County, WA (WorkersCompensation.com) – A former meter reader has pleaded guilty to workers’ compensation fraud after she was caught selling dogs, officials in Washington state said.

The worker was one of several found to have fraudulently claimed workers’ compensation benefits, officials said.

According to the Washington State Department of Labor & Industries (L&I), Linda Lashell Jordan, 56, claimed she had PTSD and a phobia of dogs so severe that she couldn’t work. But L&I investigators found that Jordan had six dogs, as well as some that she was fostering or advertising for sale.

Investigators determined that Jordan took more than $162,000 in wage-replacement payments between September 2016 and October 2019 while claiming she couldn’t work. Jordan had claimed that while working as a meter reader for the Pacific County Public Utility District in 2007, she was bitten on her right arm by a dog. The bite caused serious injury and led to several claims being filed with L&I maintaining that she couldn’t risk working or even driving a vehicle because she might encounter a dog.

As required to receive wage-replacement payments, Jordan’s medical providers confirmed that she fainted whenever she saw dogs and was not able to return to her job because of her on-the-job injuries.

When a claim manager suspected something might not be on the up and up, an investigator visited Jordan at her home. Pretending to be interested in buying bricks that she’d advertised for sale, the investigator found Jordan at home with three French bulldogs and three boxers. As the dogs huddled around Jordan, she told the investigator how she and her husband had been rescuing and fostering boxers for 30 years, and then warned him that one of the dogs might bite, according to the case files from L&I.

The investigation also found that Jordan advertised the dogs for sale on Facebook under her maiden name, and while she told healthcare providers she couldn’t drive because she might faint at the sight of dogs, investigators observed Jordan driving nine times between 2018 and 2019.

When an investigator showed surveillance materials to a psychiatrist who had previously treated Jordan, the psychiatrist changed Jordan’s diagnosis from PTSD to malingering, and that Jordan had been able to work since 2016.

In late August, Jordan pleaded guilty to second-degree attempted theft of state workers’ compensation benefits. Jordan was sentenced to 30 days in jail, but allowed to serve it under electronic home monitoring. L&I is seeking repayment of the money she fraudulently received.

“This is clearly a case of someone abusing the workers’ comp system,” said Celeste Monahan, assistant director of L&I’s Fraud Prevention and Labor Standards division. “It’s not a victimless crime. She was taking money from the fund that helps workers who really are seriously injured on the job and need support to heal and get back to work.”

On August 19, a former California Highway Patrol officer was arrested on suspicion of workers’ compensation fraud and theft.

Jordan Lester, 44, worked for the CHP’s Quincy Office. Officials said Lester filed a workers’ compensation claim on July 12, 2021, and was later placed off work by his physician in Jan. 2022.

However, an anonymous tip led investigators to believe that Lester was engaging in activities that were inconsistent with his physicians’ limitations, officials said.

Lester was arrested without incident and booked into the Plumas County Jail, and charged with making false statements to obtain compensation, presenting false statements regarding insurance claims, concealing or failing to disclose events affecting benefits, perjury and making false statements to the DMV or CHP.

And on August 14, a former U.S. Postal Service employee from Auburn pleaded guilty Wednesday to four counts of workers’ compensation fraud while claiming benefits even as they secretly worked another job.

Christopher Gleason, 35, admitted in U.S. District Court that he filed false claims to obtain federal workers’ compensation benefits, and claimed on the benefit claim forms that he did not have outside employment. After filing the claim due to a job-related ankle injury in January 2022, Gleason began working at a construction job. Government officials said Gleason defrauded the government of nearly $15,000.

Gleason now faces up to five years in prison, a $250,000 fine and a three-year supervised release. He will also be required to pay restitution for the benefits he received. Gleason’s sentencing is set for Dec. 11, 2024.

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