Unfortunately there are always some bad apples. In the world of personal injury law, some bad apples fake an accident, their injuries from an accident, or their inability to work following an accident, in order to pursue a personal injury or workers compensation claim. This type of behavior is illegal and unethical. Is it also behavior that further sullies the perception the general public has of personal injury lawyers, and of people who file personal injury claims. This is unfortunate as it impacts honest people who are legitimately injured by negligence, and the personal injury lawyers in Massachusetts who represent these deserving claimants each and every day. Here are some examples of fraud with injury cases that we see in Massachusetts:

Workers Compensation

There are some people that commit workers compensation fraud in Massachusetts. These individuals may claim to be injured in order to receive workers compensation weekly benefits checks, as well as payment for medical expenses. Some people collect workers compensation benefits for a perfectly legitimate claim, but then continue to work at a different job, which is prohibited. One collecting workers compensation cannot also work for a different employer and collect wages. This is fraud and it is illegal. It is also considered to larceny, or theft, as well. People who engage in this conduct can be held civilly and criminally liable.

Car Accidents

There are some people that “stage” car accidents. What happens is they orchestrate a fake car accident. Or, they may “jump-in” a car following an accident and claim to be injured from the accident. This conduct occurred in Lawrence years ago and thankfully was caught by the authorities. However, that illegal scheme only damaged further the reputation of personal injury lawyers and their clients. This type of behavior is strictly illegal and can result, like with workers comp fraud, with jail time and civil fines as well.