Another Fraud Case – This One Involves Goats! – Has the North Carolina Workers’ Compensation Community Talking
North Carolina workers’ compensation experts have been following a bizarre breaking story out of Chenango County, NY.
According to the Associated Press, a 53-year-old New York woman named Susan Tansosch has been ordered to pay over $60,000 in restitution to the United States Postal Service for workers’ comp fraud, pursuant to charges that she falsely claimed that she had no additional income streams – when she had been making significant money selling goats.
Last Wednesday, Judge Thomas McAvoy sentenced Tansosch to four years probation and forced restitution to the USPS for making untrue statements to collect workers’ comp benefits from the federal government. The Department of Labor abruptly ended Tansosch’s benefits – all because she sold goats on the side.
This story drives home a point that many North Carolina workers’ compensation claimants often forget. Namely, that you need to read and understand the fine print of your benefits arrangement. If you fail to abide by the terms stipulated, you could wind up in court, in trouble, and in debt to the agency or insurer that provided the benefits to you.
There is no way to tell from this AP story whether or not Ms. Tansosch knew that selling goats would violate her workers’ comp arrangement. But don’t think that, just because you settle your North Carolina workers’ compensation case, that the situation will be permanently resolved. Insurance carriers are businesses. They investigate claims — even after they have settled! — to make sure that claimants are/were telling the truth about their injuries.
Managing the legal complications of a debate over your benefits can be a draining chore – one that you likely do not have the training to handle adroitly. That’s why, even if your case is relatively simple-seeming now, you might benefit from a consultation with a reputable and proven North Carolina workers’ compensation law firm. As the old adage goes, an ounce of prevention is equal to a pound of cure. Smart planning can mean the world for your workers’ comp case.
More Web Resources
NY goat-seller must pay back workers’ comp
