How long can a private investigator follow you after filing a workers’ compensation claim?

In this video, we’re going to address how long a private investigator can follow you after you have filed a workers’ compensation claim in California. My name is Matt Eason. I’ve been practicing employment and workers’ compensation rights here in Sacramento for over 25 years, and it’s not uncommon for our clients to have anxiety or fear that someone is following them as it relates to their claim. More importantly, we’re going to talk about why they’re following you and what’s likely to happen, and what you should be concerned or not concerned about.

The short and unfortunately answer as to how long they can follow you is the entire time. The reality of that is that they’re not going to. There are certain types of cases that lend themselves to being followed, and there are certain junctures in the case, and that most of the time, you would be followed versus not be followed. For starters, to follow somebody in a workers’ compensation case costs a significant amount of money. Private investigators are not cheap, so if they’re going to investigate you, there has to be a basis for them to be willing to spend that money. 

If you suffered a clear on-the-job injury, and everybody knows that you’re hurt, there is no likelihood that they’re going to really try and follow you. For example, if you had a fall at a construction site and you broke your leg. At the site, you were taken by ambulance to the hospital, and you had surgery at the hospital, then there is no real reason to be concerned that they’re going to be following you for a period of time. That injury happened. People saw it. The fact that you went to the hospital proves that you were injured. The fact that you had surgery on your leg proves that you were injured. So there’s no real anxiety or reason to pay money to follow you for that injury. 

In the alternative, if you have the type of injury that nobody saw it occur, nobody really knows for sure if you’re injured, the doctors may be somewhat conflicted about what your limitations are. Well, then you are right to be followed because they want to try and find some evidence of you are actually hurt or are you exaggerating your injuries. For example, the warehouse worker who claims it can be longer lift anything over 20 pounds, but yet did not have a specific injury happen to them that anyone witnessed. The doctors, upon examination, are finding only soft tissue type injuries. There’s probably a legit concern that someone would follow you in hopes that they will see you doing something that you should not be doing. 

Likewise, to go back to the prior person who broke their leg and had the surgery, if you were to fast forward past a normal recovery time for that, and that person is claiming they can’t walk and there’s no medical evidence to really support that other than subjective complaints then you should expect they’re going to have someone follow you to try and catch you in the act of doing something you said you could not do. The point of it all really boils down to you should not have any anxiety about being followed if your claims are clear and obvious. 

To look at it another way in the simplest of terms, if it’s clear that you were injured on the job, and it’s clear that you suffered an injury based on medical imaging, medical diagnosis then the chances of you being followed very small. In contrast, if there is a dispute as to whether not you were actually ever injured or more likely that your injuries are not as significant as you say they are, and the evidence really isn’t supporting you it’s only your subjective testimony, then there is a much greater chance that they are going to follow you. The length of time they follow you really depends on the size of your case and other factors of whether or not they’re having success in catching you in the act of doing things you should not do things like that. 

In short, if you’ve got clear evidence of an injury and clear evidence of ongoing problems from objective films and objective reports, then you really should not have any serious anxiety about being followed. Your injuries are substantiated. In contrast, if there is a real concern of you ever being hurt on the job at all, and more importantly, there’s a concern that your injuries are being inflated and you’re making things up, then there’s a greater chance you’re going to be followed. The point of it all is to be truthful in your workers’ compensation case. Be upfront, be frank, and you shouldn’t have any anxiety about what they see or don’t see because you are telling the truth.