When you file a Workers’ Comp claim, your employer and their insurance carrier will often do whatever they legally can to deny your claim. This can even result in surveillance.
Insurance companies and defendants are allowed to hire private investigators or use their own on-staff investigators to gather as much information on your injury as they want to. This means they can access anything available to the public, such as your online posts. They can even follow you around and take pictures of you, so long as you are in public.
For help with your injury case, call Cardamone Law’s Certified Pennsylvania Workers’ Compensation Lawyers at (267) 651-7945.
Why Would the Insurance Company Spy on You?
Insurance companies want to deny claims. This means they want evidence that attacks the main elements of your case:
- That the injury exists, in the first place.
- That the injury was work-related.
- That the injury is disabling.
They can also use any information that shows you are otherwise not complying with the rules of Workers’ Comp, such as evidence that you are
- Working at another job without reporting it
- Performing tasks your doctor said not to
- Performing tasks that call your injury’s severity into question.
They can often gather information from observing you in public that they can use to push back against your claims. Even if you are not lying or exaggerating, they could (intentionally or accidentally) misinterpret what they see or what you post online and use it against you.
What is the Insurance Company Allowed to Do to Surveil You?
Insurance companies and employers can take any of the following steps:
- Hire private investigators or use their on-staff licensed investigators
- Follow you in public places
- Take photos or videos of you in public spaces
- Contact friends, family, and acquaintances to ask questions about you
- Approach you and talk to you in public without admitting their identity or motive
- Go through your trash at the curb/in the dumpster
- Look at your public social media profiles and take screenshots or download images
- Contact social media followers to take screenshots of your posts or download pictures from a “locked” or “private” account the follower is allowed to view.
With any of these issues, there is always a chance that the judge might find what the insurance company did to cross the lines of privacy expectations, but most of these activities are firmly allowed under court precedents.
What is the Law on Surveilling Injured Workers?
There are many things insurance company investigators can do to observe or follow you in public, but there are some lines they cannot cross:
- They cannot commit fraud to gain information
- They cannot enter your home or violate your privacy by peeping through windows or hiding cameras/recorders in your home
- They cannot use force or violence
- They cannot steal
- They cannot go through your mail
- They cannot violate attorney-client privilege.
Important Cases
Generally, surveillance in public spaces by investigators has been allowed under the Pennsylvania Supreme Court case Forster v. Manchester (1963).
Tagouma v. Investigative Consultant Services (2010) in the Superior Court also allowed photos and videos to be taken through a window while an injured worker was praying at a religious center. They also ruled that a Workers’ Comp claimant’s right to privacy is curtailed a bit while the claim is being investigated/challenged.
How Employers Can Use Private Investigators
Insurance companies may have on-staff investigators, or your employer/their insurance carrier might hire them just for this case. In either case, they are usually “private investigators.”
What Qualifications Do Private Investigators Have?
Private investigators usually need to be licensed in their state. In Pennsylvania, the Private Detective Act of 1953 sets out the qualifications.
To be a private investigator, you have to be free of felonies and of certain misdemeanors (e.g., drug possession disqualifies investigators). This helps ensure that anyone following you is trained in what they do, understands the law, and does not have a criminal record that might put you in danger.
Can You Report Private Investigators?
Private investigators have rules of professional conduct, much like other licensed professionals in Pennsylvania. These rules dictate rules of honesty, conflicts of interest, responsibility to clients, and responsibility to the courts/the law.
If they breached these rules or committed a crime, you can report it to the Pennsylvania Association of Licensed Investigators or report crimes to the police.
Can Private Investigators Lie to You?
Sort of. The code of conduct for investigators says they should not lie to third parties (Which would include investigative subjects), but they can lie in an undercover role. This means that investigators do not have to identify themselves as investigators and can even use fake names. They also do not have to tell you they are an investigator, so keep in mind that anyone you talk to out in the world could potentially be an undercover private investigator.
Investigators cannot lie to courts or tribunals, including Workers’ Comp Judges.
Gathering Info
Private investigators are often used to gather information on claimants. The biggest thing they usually look for is photos or other evidence that the claimant is not as injured as they say they are or that they are performing other work while making a claim.
For example, if you are supposed to be on light-duty work and they catch you performing extensive housework or skiing on the weekend, they can present that as proof that your injuries are not what you say they are.
Presenting Info in Hearings
Investigators often testify in hearings and depositions about the info and evidence they acquired. For example, they can present testimony that you talked to them when they were posing as a bar patron, and that you admitted the injury was faked.
Because they are licensed professionals with a duty to tell the truth to courts and tribunals, their testimony is often weighted very highly.
How Can I Stop a Private Investigator?
If a private investigator has committed a code violation or a crime against you, you can report them to the proper authorities: their licensing authority for code violations and the police for crimes.
Filing a Restraining Order
If you are being stalked or harassed by a private investigator outside the scope of their investigation or after you have already told them to leave your property, etc., you may be entitled to protection under a restraining order. Talk to your attorney about what restraining orders might be available.
Criminal Charges
If they committed a crime against you or your property – such as assault or trespassing – and you report the crime, charges often involve bail terms that would prevent them from continuing to interact with you. This means continued harassment or communication could constitute a bail violation and send them to jail or function as witness intimidation.
Either way, these kinds of crimes often lose them their license, so private investigators are often not going to go this far.
Talk to Their Employer
Our lawyers may be able to discuss the case with your employer and ask them to call off the investigator. If we are open and forthright, there might be nothing for us to hide, and your employer might not think it’s necessary to bother surveilling you like this anymore.
FAQs About Investigations and Spying on Injured Workers in Pennsylvania
Can Employers Hire Private Investigators in Workers’ Comp Cases?
The law generally does allow employers and insurance carriers to hire private investigators to gather intel or surveillance in a Workers’ Comp claim. However, they usually must use licensed investigators who have ethics rules to follow and understand your rights and theirs.
This often prevents overt harassment because of the professional restrictions on licensed PIs.
Doesn’t the Right to Privacy Stop Surveillance?
Your right to privacy does stop surveillance at home, but there is a reduced expectation of privacy in public places and while your claim is ongoing.
Can Private Investigators Access Your Social Media?
They cannot do anything illegal, like hack your devices, but they can view your public social media profiles. They may even be able to create fake accounts to follow you with or contact people who already follow you to relay info, so “locking” your account might not be enough to stop them. If it’s online, they can likely view it.
It is best to never post about your injury case and to consider locking down and stopping use of social media while your claim is pending. On the other hand, deleting posts or accounts might be considered evidence tampering. Always seek legal advice about how far to go.
Can Private Investigators Pay for Information?
There is nothing stopping investigators from paying for information as long as it does not constitute a bribe or otherwise violate the law. However, we can always cross-examine their investigators about how they obtained the info and point to the fact that paid informants might be unreliable, given their motivation to provide “helpful” information, whether it’s true or not.
Can Private Investigators Testify at Your Workers’ Comp Hearings?
Often, employers and their insurance carriers will use evidence obtained by their investigators in your case. This often means calling the investigator at least to a deposition, if not to the hearing itself.
Many judges do not require in-person testimony at the hearing, meaning they will instead review deposition transcripts. Either way, this gives our lawyers the chance to cross-examine them, challenge them on their recollection of events, confront potential lies or half-truths, and note our objections on the record for things like hearsay.
What if Investigators Broke the Law?
Our attorneys should be able to block evidence from being used against you if it was obtained illegally or unjustly. This is often up to the judge.
There may also be a separate lawsuit you can file against the insurance company or their investigators for violating your privacy rights.
Can You Call the Police if You’re Being Followed or Harassed?
Private investigators are typically licensed, meaning they know where the line is between legal and illegal activity, and what they can and cannot do. Investigators usually avoid crossing the line, knowing they could be arrested for harassment or stalking or lose their license if they mess up.
However, you should never risk your safety or trust them to have your best interests in mind. If you suspect you are being stalked, harassed, or otherwise targeted by illegal activity, report it to the police.
Does Settling Your Case End Surveillance?
If you settle your case and the insurance company is no longer paying benefits or trying to defend against your claim, they will usually stop surveillance. They might continue keeping an eye on you if they suspect you induced them into a settlement through fraud, but they usually won’t sign an agreement in the first place if they think it’s fraudulent.
Can An Employer or Their Insurance Demand Exams?
Periodic medical exams are a common part of Workers’ Comp claims. Independent Medical Exams, Impairment Rating Evaluations, and other exams can be scheduled as part of your case, all without violating any privacy or investigation rules.
Call Our Workers’ Comp Lawyers in Pennsylvania Today
For your free case review, call Cardamone Law’s Philadelphia Workers’ Compensation attorneys at (267) 651-7945.
