Can Social Media Be Used Against You in a Workers’ Compensation Case in Pennsylvania?

Social media apps of all kinds are constantly present. TikTok, Twitter/X, Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, and many more are interacted with daily by countless people. Indeed, the likelihood that you are present on a social media app somewhere, even if you yourself do not have an online presence, is very high. Since so much of a person’s public-facing persona is online, jobs, school administrators, and important to our purposes, lawyers and insurance providers are looking at social media to see if there is anything they can use against a claimant to deny them benefits.

In many ways, social media posts can be used against you in a Pennsylvania Workers’ Compensation claim. However, that is only the case if there are things present that actually make you ineligible or give an insurance carrier grounds to deny you. If there is anything at all in your social media that you are worried about affecting your claims, we can help you.

Our Certified Pennsylvania Workers’ Compensation Specialists are ready to assist you with your social media concerns when you reach out to Cardamone Law by calling (267) 651-7945.

Do Insurance Companies and Workers’ Compensation Claim Evaluators Really Examine Social Media in Pennsylvania?

Both the claim evaluators and the insurance company’s lawyers will absolutely look you up on social media if they think it will help them deny eligibility for coverage. Depending on what entity you are trying to get Workers’ Compensation from, the “rules” they need to play by are somewhat different.

Private company evaluators do not have restrictions, though some judges might. Companies will likely try to examine your social media history to see if anything casts your claims into doubt. If there is anything present that can be used to cast doubt on the seriousness of your injury or the claim that it is work-related, they will find it and try to use that information against you.

Insurance companies may even request a court order to force you to give them social media information if they have strong suspicions about your claims and that there would be evidence on your socials. However, companies only need to get that kind of clearance if your information is private. If you have things publicly available on social media, no court order is needed for companies to go snooping around.

Can Social Media Posts Hurt My Workers’ Compensation Claim in Pennsylvania?

Social media can hurt your claims when it casts doubt on their truthfulness. If you are careless about what you post online, it can jeopardize your claim, even if you deserve disability coverage.

Posts that Put Your Disability into Question

If anything on social media calls into question whether you were injured at work, it can be used against your workplace injury claim. For example, suppose you claim that you are paralyzed from the waist down due to a workplace injury but then post something that says that you “just ran a five-mile race” shortly thereafter. That post could easily be used to disqualify your claim.

Posts can also make your claim harder to verify if they suggest that the injury occurred somewhere other than at work. For example, suppose you claim that you broke your arm in a work injury but then post a picture of your cast saying that you “got hurt on a night out.” A post like that could hurt your case.

Other People’s Posts Can Hurt Your Case

Other people’s social media posts can also cause harm to any claims you have active. For example, even if your online presence does not have anything compromising on it, if someone else has a post that suggests you are not injured or were not injured at work, that could also hurt your work injury claim.

“Digital Evidence Rules”

Under 225 Pa Code Rule 901(b)(11), so-called “digital evidence” – which includes social media posts – can be authenticated and let into court if certain thresholds are met. There needs to be more than circumstantial evidence to let those posts through in your Workers’ Compensation claim. What is needed to authenticate digital evidence will vary from case to case, so you should discuss your unique situation with our attorneys.

Advice for A Safe Social Media Presence When Waiting for Workers’ Compensation in Pennsylvania

Just because some social media posts can hurt your claim does not necessarily mean that you need to abstain from or remove all social media while you await the resolution of your Workers’ Compensation claim. While you certainly can ease any further activity on social media, deleting posts could actually lead to sanctions or even criminal charges if it arises to the level of evidence tampering or destruction. Below, our Pennsylvania Workers’ Compensation claim lawyers will give you some handy tips you can use to make sure your social media does not compromise your claims.

Check and Change Privacy Settings

Most social media users do not mess with their privacy settings after they create their account. Make sure yours are where you want them to be so that only people who really want to have access to your accounts can get there. It is advisable to set your privacy settings to the highest level if you are in the middle of legal proceedings like Workers’ Compensation claims.

Let Contacts Know of Your Situation

It may be a good idea to inform people you have contact with of what is going on – at least by telling them you are filing a claim. This way, you can ask them not to put anything online that accidentally makes it appear as if your claim does not hold water.

Search Yourself and Tell Our Lawyers

It is also good practice to search for your name on Google and other search engines. You may find a surprising amount of things you did not expect. If there is anything that you think may complicate your claim, you should tell our lawyers so that we can incorporate plans to deal with that negative evidence. It very well may be the case that someone with the same name as you may confuse claim evaluators and make having your claim approved tougher. Knowing this information, our lawyers can help process your claim more smoothly and prepare for any known issues.

Discuss Your Claim with Our Pennsylvania Workers’ Compensation Claim Lawyers Today

Cardamone Law’s Certified Philadelphia Workers’ Compensation lawyers are here to help you with your concerns when you contact us at (267) 651-7945.