You hurt your back at work, so you filed a workers’ compensation claim. A month or so down the line, you post pictures of yourself holding a toddler at your nephew’s birthday party or cheerfully holding up a mimosa at brunch with your friends.
Neither picture proves your back is fine. They don’t even tell the whole story: You were in pain the rest of the night after posing with the toddler, and that hour at brunch was the only hour you made it out of the house that day. However, taken out of context, those photos can raise questions.
Social media is a hunting ground for insurers
Insurers routinely prowl through social media websites these days, looking for “evidence” that they can use to diminish or deny workers’ comp claims and reduce their operational costs.
If you’re claiming that you can’t lift, bend, drive or perform other regular daily activities because of your injuries and your posts seem to show you doing exactly those things, that’s an issue. Any post that shows you hiking, working around the house, standing for a long time, playing pickleball or other sports, taking trips or just generally looking like you are enjoying life can potentially be used to challenge your truthfulness and the extent of your limitations.
Don’t expect your privacy settings to shield you
Your privacy settings may be on, but they can provide a false sense of security. Someone may copy and share your post, tag you in a photo that you don’t control or screenshot something you send and pass it on to another person. Your posts can even be part of the official discovery process in a case.
That doesn’t mean you should suddenly delete everything after filing a claim. Deleting potentially relevant posts can create problems of its own. Instead, it’s generally best to be cautious about what you post. Don’t talk about your injury, medical treatment or workers’ compensation case online. It’s also not a bad idea to ask friends and family not to tag you in photographs or post information about you without asking.
If your workers’ compensation claim is being met with resistance, it may be time to seek legal guidance, given all that is at stake.