The insurance company is permitted by law to perform surveillance on an injured party after an on the job accident or in a personal injury claim. So long as the injured worker follows the advice and opinions of the treating doctor about limitations or restrictions then it should not be a problem for the injured worker. However, by ignoring the doctor’s orders, it could lead to credibility issues at trial if the injured worker is filmed doing something in violation of the doctor’s orders.
We previously blogged about this topic: https://nomberglaw.com/blog/workers-compensation/legal-insurance-company-surveillance-work-injury/
Hey, it’s Bernard Nomberg with the Nomberg Law Firm. I wanted to take a few minutes to talk to you guys about surveillance in an insurance claim.
Whether it’s a workers’ compensation matter or a personal injury claim, how does surveillance fit into the case? Yes, it is legal and lawful in Alabama for a third party to perform surveillance on an injured worker. It’s actually done quite often by insurance companies. They would either do it themselves and have their own detective or they may hire somebody, but the type of surveillance that I’m referring to that is legal and lawful is can be done from public streets, public walkways, rest stops, you name it. What they can’t do is come onto your property and then peer into your house.
There’s a big difference there but the bottom line is surveillance can be done so what do we do in response to that? Because we can’t stop it because we assume that most insurance companies are going to do surveillance of our of our injured worker clients, is we ask of you, the injured worker, to be logical about your movements. To be sensible about what you do. If a doctor who’s treating you has given to you restrictions and limitations that you should be following then that’s just what you need to do in public life.
If you’re not supposed to lift more than ten pounds, if you’re not supposed to be climbing or walking stairs, or whatever it may be and you then are found on camera or during somebody’s surveillance of you doing something that exceeds those limitations that the doctor has said for that apply to you during the time period, then it takes away from your credibility. And it really hurts your ability to be successful in court because that surveillance video will not only be shown at your trial and you’ll be cross-examined, but then the judge will see those things. And it really hurts your case because your credibility is put at issue. It’ll save you a lot of headaches and a lot of time and a lot of mental stress that if you just will not do those things.
Just be sensible and logical and what you’re doing in your day to day life. You don’t need to in the event that you see somebody doing surveillance or suspect them you don’t need to confront them just let your attorney know and we’ll handle it. But in most instances you’ll never know that they’re there and even if you do there’s not much we can do about it.
If you have any questions or concerns about this issue or other issues on the law, please call the Nomberg Law Firm at 205-769-4824. We are also on Facebook and Twitter.