Don’t know who needs to hear this but I have seen variations of this story play out time and time again. Try and realize how much money it costs one of these companies over time when they pay out a disability claim and you will realize they are highly motivated to find a reason to get out of paying.
What I’m saying is that if you have a disability claim you should just assume that a private investigator is going to be checking up on you. Act accordingly.
Happened to my mum!
She said she felt like someone was following her as she kept seeing a new car outside and she didn’t know who it belonged to.
My sister who lives with her said she was crazy.
Surprise surprise, few months later she gets a letter with pictures of her sometimes leaving the house saying they did an investigation.
Since the pictures were mostly her limping heavily to take her service dog out to go to the bathroom it was fine.
But yeah its no joke, but makes sense. My mom has been on disability near 10 years, that’s 400k+ in benefits paid out. Paying 2k for a private investigator only has to work a small percentage of the time to save money.
Kind of weird that they would send the pictures when the result of the investigation was that the claim was legitimate.
Or do they have to legally provide that info I don’t know how it works
Could just be their policy. Don’t know more I’m afraid.
So they legally have to release the pictures after a while? That would be good to know.
I mean let’s be real here. The year is 2024. You are being watched.
And of course the government is bought and paid for so no one is arresting them for stalking charges
I mean PI’s are legal.
Laws are complicated. But as long as they don’t cause a nuisance and stay on public property, they’re no more invasive than paparazzi’s after all.
They are technically legal but really shouldn’t be. They have been used historically as a rent-for-hire police force and we have enough problems with real police forces that have much more oversight. The solution to poor regulations isnt less regulations, it is better regulations.
But as long as they don’t cause a nuisance and stay on public property, they’re no more invasive than paparazzi’s after all.
Not to be too snarky but if I a middle aged man who looks like a construction worker was following a woman in your life around taking pictures of her how would you feel? And yes feelings matter. Consent is fucking important and I am tired of people dismissing it. Just because I have the ability to lawfully do something doesn’t mean that I should or that it should be acceptable that I do.
People should have a right to be left alone and not be stalked. And if that means the occasional worker gets a slightly bigger settlement then they should so be it.
Oh and fyi I have been on the receiving end of this. Right when I graduated I took a job with a corporation that had a weapons division (I didn’t even work in that department) and under a week after I started my neighbors told me that someone started asking about me. Plus I had a car follow me around. Mentioned it at work to my new boss and he said the same thing happened to him when he started.
whenever I feel like a car is following me, I fake 'em out with a sharp left turn and make sure I shook 'em!
By “checking” you mean photoshop
A lad I know was off on the sick with an injury for a while on full pay, played the game, turned up to his welfare interviews with his employer, complained that his injury was getting slowly better but still keeping him at home… and only got busted because he appeared in a photo in the paper having come second in a local half marathon.
Another boy I know who was on light work duties in the office because of a supposed back issue, got pulled in for a “meeting without biscuits” because he was spotted refereeing an ice hockey game one weekend by someone from the office.
Outstanding levels of fuckery.
Huh. first time I’ve heard the term meeting without biscuits. I will use context clues to deduce the meaning:
A meeting with biscuits is probably a perquisite type of meeting with good news involved,
So a meeting with no biscuits would not be a friendly meeting and is punitive in nature.
Yes, your logic is pretty much spot on. Meetings that people are welcome at generally attract little sweeteners to make the meeting or conference more bearable - whether it’s sandwiches, cakes, teas, coffees, or biscuits.
Generally, if you walk in to a room and nobody offers you a tea, coffee, or a biscuit - there’s a reasonable chance that you’re going to get your arse kicked for something.
If you don’t mind me asking - have you not heard the phrase before because it’s an expression you’ve not come across before, or is English a second language and it’s meaning is implied rather than explicit? To me, your logical approach suggests the latter, and I’m asking out of sheer interest :)
Maybe I have not heard the phrase because I live in USA and you seem to live in United Kingdom. then maybe that phrase is something that you guys use, but we don’t.
also as a USA person, when I think of biscuit, this is a biscuit to us:
I think when you say “biscuit,” you are talking about the sweet treats that we call cookies.
Awesome, thank you - I am guilty of using a lot of British slang after all.
Hope you have a good day!
Thank you.
You’ve got me curious, if Americans call these things biscuits:
flour
baking powder
sugar
salt
butter
milk
Bake in oven for 12 minutes or until tops turn lightly golden brown.
What do UK people call these?
My friend, I can write my entire knowledge of baking on the back of a postage stamp in black marker, but judging by the pictures, I’d call them scones - the pronunciation of which is a matter of controversy even in the UK.
They would be small cakes though, speaking generically!
You’d probably like the video series where British guys try American fast food for the first time. Specifically the one where they go to Popeyes, they called the biscuit a scone but loved it.
Breadies
This is my first time hearing this saying as well being a yank and all. Anyways, I currently work for a company that had a meeting with biscuits (doughnuts) and pretty much everyone that showed up was let go. Those that by chance had something else to do, dodged the shady way to fire people. Legal issues insu no. Needless to say doughnuts are not common around here and when they do get brought in this event always gets brought up.
Leave it to corporate America to pervert something that is supposed to be nice.
I’m an Aussie, and a biscuit is a biscuit, plus I love Britcoms, yet I’ve never heard the term!
I love it, though.
Here in the US it’s a meeting with two managers that signals you’re in trouble.
Seriously, I’ve lived in the UK for 35 years and I’ve never heard that expression either.
More to the point: biscuits are hospitality in the UK.
So in the UK, a biscuit is not an edible flour-based bread-type thing? It’s just the act of hospitality?
I’ve never received biscuits at a meeting… Did I do too much fuckery?
Or the wrong kind of fuckery
I’m guessing reffing in hockey is pretty physical? Because I can see myself playing some light sports with a bad back, if I’m careful about my movements. But lifting heavy things or crawling into weird contortions for things like plumbing or auto work would be out.
The thing about physical injuries is that they don’t cripple you 100% of the time, but are very prone to being set off. And people tend to take more risks in their leisure time, because, well, you want to do the things you enjoy and accept the large risk. I do not accept that risk for work if at all possible.
2nd in a marathon certainly speaks to great physical shape. But again, could be different muscles. A sensitive back isn’t going to be debilitating for running in straight lines on paved surfaces.
The refs in hockey have to skate along and keep up with the players. That’s a lot of moving and twisting your back.
That’s what I was thinking, but you can absolutely modify your movements to, say, use more legs, and less turning of the hips.
My sport was boxing, and I threw my back out. Badly. Set me back for a long time, physical therapy, the works. When I went back, I ruled out several of my more explosive twisting moves. Stopped wrenching out of clinches, favoring work on the inside if forced.
And I was actively avoiding anything involving lifting or bending during that recovery.
My buddy broke his neck recently in a car accident. I warned him that no matter how tempting it is, he should not join any Christmas tree chucking competitions in the coming holiday season.
You’re a good friend
It’s pretty unjust if that’s the entire reason why she was denied. When you have permanent injuries there are days that you feel more capable than others. That doesn’t mean you’re not injured, it means that you’re feeling more capable that day and probably have a strong desire to be normal and fully functional again, so you’ll push yourself. There’s a high probability that your exuberance will lead to lots of pain later.
Her claim was that she couldn’t work or play with her kids for five years though. Tossing trees seems like a pretty excessive activity compared to some light playing with kids or light work.
Part of me does agree since I had terrible fatigue for a few years, some days were better than others so I understand wanting to do more when you feel better but if you’re in the middle of a claim to pay out 650K then it may be better to know your limits. Especially for back and neck injuries. She could have played with her kids in that time instead which is what she was concerned about for the claim.
Nobody is talking about the fact that she won the competition. “I feel normal today” typically doesn’t lead to winning tree throwing competitions, but that’s a small sample set so maybe I’m wrong.
She won the ladies’ event though. Plus
The court also saw a video of Grabska training her dog in a park for more than an hour in addition to the Christmas tree contest pictures.
Sounds like she could do everything except go to work…
Happened to my mom as well, thing is my dad is an insurance adjuster, so he saw the lady taking photos of her cheering at a little league game and started taking photos back with his DSLR
Lady realized and was so flustered she left immediately
Used to work in workmans comp. They said they’d spend up to half the value of the award on trying to bust people. U gotta CYA
Judge licks boots of corporate overlords and should be disbarred but won’t be
