Worker on disability ran 7-mile race

[Liberal_in_LA]

SF worker on disability ran race, prosecutors say
Bob Egelko, Chronicle Staff Writer

Emily Hegner competed in a 7-mile Muir Woods run in April 2008 that included a chunk of the grueling Dipsea Trail. She did all right, finishing 12th out of 23 women in her age group.

But three months earlier, according to the state Department of Insurance, Hegner was classified as disabled and was collecting workers' compensation benefits because of injuries she reported suffering in a slip-and-fall accident as a San Francisco hospital worker.

And almost five months after the race, the department said, she told an orthopedic surgeon she was in pain most of the time, couldn't return to work, and needed a cane to walk or climb stairs.

Hegner, 34, of Daly City turned herself in March 9 on criminal charges of grand theft, perjury and making a false or misleading statement in a workers' compensation claim, Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones said Monday. The San Francisco district attorney's office is prosecuting the case.


Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/03/22/BAS61IH68Q.DTL#ixzz1HS5eARZP

[spanone]

1. there are cheats in all walks of life....sadly

[FLPanhandle]

2. Well, at least she put her time off work to good use

Getting her body in shape. Pity the time off didn't heal the stupid.

[virgogal]

3. What an absolute disgrace she is.

[leftstreet]

4. Maybe her disability prevented her placing first n/t

[Ilsa]

5. People who cheat the system make life harder for those who genuinely

have a need for the system. This woman should be ashamed of herself.

[Wait Wut]

7. Yes.

And the result is PA Democrat's comment below (#6).

I'm sick of arguing with idiots about how the majority of aid recipients really do deserve it when they keep throwing losers like this in my face.

[Tansy_Gold]

8. The worst of it --

1. She will probably never have to repay any of the money. Either she doesn't have it or has no assets to attach; either way, the insurance fund is the loser.

2. Prosecuting her will also cost "the system."

3. If she goes to jail, more $$ will come out of "the system."


There is no way to get this money back.


Over the years I've worked in HR and handled many many worker's comp claims. Sadly, I've seen a lot of fraudulent claims, and each one has cost a lot of money to contest and investigate. Several eventually went to court, and virtually all went against the claimant. I don't recall any in which the funds or the costs were recovered.

But I've also watched as the legitimate victims of workplace accidents have had to fight for their rightful benefits BECAUSE their employers have been stung by the fraudsters and now assume everyone is out to screw them. And most of the time those workers never recover the full cost of defending their claims either.


TG

[PA Democrat]

6. You KNOW what will happen next. Right wingers will latch on to a story like this

and use it to justify "reform" of workers comp. They will always point to the few cases of abuse of ANY piece of the social safety net and use it as an excuse to dismantle the entire system.

[Johonny]

9. pretty much

[LeftishBrit]

10. Exactly!

ALL people on benefits are workshy scroungers ('workshy' is a favourite term of the British RW tabloids), and ALL disabled people are either frauds, or wimps who ought to be forced to pull themselves together.

:sarcasm: just in case it's needed.

Of course, real fraudsters like this woman make it harder for all the genuinely disabled people - but it's interesting that the RW press rarely assumes e.g. that all rich people are frauds because of Bernie Madoff.

[lame54]

14. McCain can hardly walk but he ran for president

[Systematic Chaos]

17. So that would also qualify him to take a 100-yard run off a 95-yard pier?

:evilgrin:

[lame54]

19. I'd sponsor that

[B Calm]

25. and 99% of the time it was a right winger cheating the system. Hell

I can show you three or four within two miles of my house claiming disability and they're all republicans!

[madrchsod]

11. the steel mill i worked for had guys who checked on work comp employees

they would go to their homes,watch them from across the street ,and spy on them just about anywhere they would go.

[GiveMeFreedom]

12. Jebus

I have cancer on my pelvis bone, use a cane to walk (walking is painful at times) and this unscrupoulous person defrauds the very system I need to survive. Hope she gets some time for this, but more, I hope the authorities hit her pocketbook hard. She's a cheater. Now that thats done, anyone want to cane race?

[era veteran]

13. I have days that I have had to use a cane to move but

I have more days when I feel fine. If I ended up losing my job because of this would I be judged by the good days or the bad ones?
The body can just get worn out. ( spine )

[ieoeja]

15. My ex-wife has fibrowhatisit. Some days, she can work hard. Others, she can barely get out of bed.

[muriel_volestrangler]

16. But competing in a race (and being fairly good) is the sign of someone who knows they'll be well

The article also says she earlier denied taking part in any athletic event.

[FLPanhandle]

18. If someone has enough good days to actually train to do this race and do it well,

then they can damn well get up and go to an office.

[bobbolink]

20. I'm relieved to know that RWers and many DUers have been right all along....

...we are mostly frauds.

This needed to be posted... because....?

There wasn't enough crap like this on the site which cannot be named?

[cali]

23. this needed to be posted because the wingnuts will use it and we need to be prepared.

[bobbolink]

24. Prepared? With all the snark on this thread?

[Kat45]

21. Whenever I read about someone with a good job doing shit like this

(whether cheating or stealing--and it's often a politician), the first thing I think is "AND I CAN'T GET A JOB!!!!!"

[toddwv]

22. So this fraud who bilked disability out of tens of thousands will be punished, and rightly so.

But the frauds that ripped us off to the tune of hundreds of billions got big fat bonuses.

Welcome the United States of Corporate America.

[PA Democrat]

26. +1000

People can wrap their brains around workers comp or welfare fraud, but most have no idea what a credit default swap or a synthetic CDO is.