Workers' Compensation Cheaters Hurt Injured Employees With Legitimate Claims
Attorney
(866) 735-1102 Ext 645
The news media loves sensationalism. Bad deeds seem to be more interesting than good deeds.
That is why newspapers and television newscasters love to give publicity to killers, crooks and other wrongdoers.
One of these cheaters received a lot of publicity lately for a crime that did far greater harm that may at first seem apparent.
David VanDeusen, of Tully New York plead guilty to collecting $ 392,863.76 in federal workers' compensation benefits that he was not entitled to receive.
This thief had been collecting workers' compensation benefits from the United States government since 1988.
VanDeusen lied to the government in 2006 when he falsely stated that he was unable to work. The true fact was that this bandit operated three businesses at the time he told the government that he was not working and that he was unable to work.
The harm that this crook did to our government is small compared to the harm VanDeusen did to the hundreds of thousands of injured workers who have legitimate claims. These disabled workers devoted many of the best years of their lives to helping their employer make profits. When they are injured at work they deserve to be paid their legitimate claims quickly.
The general public and the news media tend to paint injured claimants with a broad brush. When someone tries to cheat the system, the public incorrectly assumes that most claimants are cheaters.
People like Mr. VanDeusen make it a little more difficult for injured workers to collect for their legitimate claims. Jurors and hearing officers who decide whether a workers' compensation claim is valid will look a little more skeptically at the next claimant after they hear about Mr. VanDeusen and the few others like him.
VanDeusen should have gone to prison far longer that the 18 months to which he was sentenced.
For more information on this subject, please refer to the section on Workplace Injuries and Workers Compensation.