The prevalence of social media has made a huge impact on modern society. It has enabled a person to give the world a direct view into their daily life. While this is a great way for friends and extended family to keep in close contact with each other, it also enables your place of employment to keep tabs on you.
Say; you were at work and instructed to lift a few heavy boxes and move them to a new location. While doing this, you ruptured a disk in your back, thus preventing you from doing your normal job. As a result, you decide to file a workers’ compensation claim.
BEWARE: Your company, and their insurance provider, will be looking at your social media accounts to make sure you are telling the truth about the injury you claimed.
What Your Company Looks For
Insurance companies have admitted to looking at the social media accounts of people who make workers’ compensation claims. They do this to see if the person is being truthful about their injuries. This means that anything you post on social media immediately after your injury, and during your case, will very likely be used against your claim.
Even if you don’t have any social media accounts, a presence can still be found. If your friends or family post pictures or videos of you doing anything that contradicts the injuries or health issues you listed in your claim, they could be used to disprove the validity of your claim.
How You Can Combat the Intrusion
There are a few things you can do to make sure social media doesn’t negatively impact your claim. First, and most importantly, make sure all your accounts are set to “private.” This ensures that anything you post will only be seen by the people you want to see it.
However, changing your privacy settings may not be enough to deter your employer from seeing what you post, especially if they follow you on multiple accounts.
To protect your privacy, follow these steps:
- Never accept a friend request from someone you don’t know. Sometimes insurance agents will pose as someone else to gain access to your account.
- Do not use a work email account when communicating with your attorney. Your employer has access to these accounts and can use what you write against you.
- Do not use a work-supplied mobile device or laptop (for the same reason listed above).
- Never delete an existing account or any posts or photos you’ve put up. If you do, your employer could make the claim that you were trying to destroy evidence.
Once you post something on the internet, it stays there forever, so be cautious about what you do and say online. An insurance agent or investigator is not above taking something you posted and twisting it in their favor if it can help them get your claim denied. An experienced workers’ compensation attorney can help you monitor your social media presence while you file your claim.
Contact Ufkes & Bright for a Free Consultation
If you are in the Santa Ana area and thinking about filing a workers’ compensation claim, call our firm today. We have over 50 years of experience in aiding clients who are seeking compensation for work-related injuries. We can do the same for you.
Call us today at (714) 909-2609 or contact us online for a case evaluation.