Glenn M. Johnston Defeats Fraudulent Workers’ Compensation Claim

New York Partner Glenn M. Johnston recently obtained a defense verdict in a workers’ compensation case in which the Claimant, an employee of an automotive and clean energy company, submitted a claim for an allegedly new knee injury, as well as an injury to his right hip and lower back. After an initial adverse decision establishing the claim, Mr. Johnston successfully moved to appeal. His appeal was aided by the fact that the Claimant had disclosed an unreported prior knee injury predating the claim by nine months and had reported different events as the basis for his injuries to various medical providers. The Claimant continued to pursue the claim, arguing that his allegedly limited English skills and poor-quality translators were to blame for the discrepancies in his statements to providers.

At the final Workers’ Compensation Board hearing, Mr. Johnston provided an outline of the prior incidents of injury recorded in the Claimant’s medical record, as well as evidence that the Claimant had not used the services of a translator at any of his medical visits. He also pointed out that the Claimant, who had been driven by his supervisor to the emergency room at the time of his alleged injury, had checked himself out of the hospital after his supervisor had left and before any diagnostics could be taken. Along with this evidence, Mr. Johnston demonstrated the Claimant’s history of fraudulent activity by providing a prior judgment against the Claimant for social service fraud. His efforts resulted in a defense verdict, with the fraudulent claim being disallowed. 

Glenn M. Johnston is a member of the Workers’ Compensation team. He handles matters for carriers, employers, and third-party administrators covering claimants in New York. He has worked in the area of workers’ compensation as both defense counsel and claimant’s counsel, and has handled multiple board appeals, requests for full board review before the New York State Workers’ Compensation Board, and appeals to the New York State Supreme Court.