Rightly or wrongly, employees in some professions have a reputation for trying to game the system through workers’ comp fraud. But a recent court decision in California shows fraud can hit a wide range of careers.
Recently, a jury in San Bernardino County, CA, found Laura DiGiorgio guilty of workers’ comp fraud.
That, in and of itself, isn’t unusual. But DiGiorgio comes from one of those professions you’d hope wouldn’t engage in this sort of thing: She was a city police officer.
DiGiorgio said during an arrest attempt, a car knocked her to the ground, causing a back injury.
However, she failed to disclose injuries from a previous off-duty car accident, according to the county district attorney’s office.
But the case isn’t over, yet. DiGiorgio has filed a federal suit against the Riverside Police Department alleging it created a hostile work environment and denied her requests to accommodate her disabilities, according to the Riverside Press-Enterprise.
It’s no wonder many companies think twice about appealing comp cases, even where evidence of fraud turns up.
