How can an account at Facebook or many of these other sites hurt your workers' compensation case?  When you create a profile on Facebook, your account has a default privacy setting that offers no privacy.  Anyone who has a Facebook account anywhere in the world can find your profile and read what you have posted, what others have posted on your "wall" and view photos that have been "tagged" with your name.

Insurance defense lawyers are well aware of Facebook, and they are aware that many Facebook users may not be very savvy about changing privacy settings.   Perhaps there is a photo of you attending a ball game or a family gathering.  Maybe you listed yourself as the CEO of ABC Enterprises. Thanks to New York workers' compensation lawyer Jim Reed who posted about this issue on his New York InjuryLaw blog.

Photos and updates can easily be taken out of context.   Even your frequency of posting can be used as evidence that you have the capacity to perform clerical type of work.   Posts on Facebook and other social media sites can be used against you to put you on the defensive and as leverage to reduce the value of your case.

So, if you enjoy using Facebook or similar sites, take a few minutes to learn about the privacy settings.  Block your profile to all but known friends and avoid "friending" someone that you don't really know.

If you were not already aware that there is no real privacy in the world, now you know.  Take steps to protect yourself.

Like many city and county governments, the City of Atlanta "self-insures" against workers' compensation claims, meaning that weekly wage benefits and funds for medical treatment come directly out of the City's budget.  The City does use a private claim's administration service called NovaPro Risk Solutions out of San Diego.

The City is not denying responsibility for paying wage or medical claims, but it has been refusing to pay for various medical procedures and medical devices.

In one instance a police officer who had been rendered a parapalegic from a gunshot wound needed surgery on his Achilles tendon  because his feet kept slipping off his wheelchair footrests. His treating physician and a second opinion physician both documented the need for surgery, but the City refused to pay for the procedure, and requested a hearing, causing several months delay and forcing the paralyzed officer to retain an attorney.

Five months later and just days before the hearing, the City finally backed down and authorized the surgery, but not before the injured officer developed pressure sores as a complication from the delay.

The City of Atlanta has financial issues and workers' compensation cases involving governmental entities give rise to special problems.  The plight of the injured officers serves as a lesson about the Georgia workers compensation system in general.  If the City of Atlanta will not stand behind herioc police officers injured in the line of duty where there is a powerful union and an outlet for publicity to shame the City into doing the right thing, what kind of treatment do you expect if you are hurt on your job?

By its nature, Georgia's workers' compensation system operates within an adversarial system.  Your dedication, loyalty and hard work on behalf of your employer mean nothing if you are hurt on the job.  Insurance companies that writer workers comp policies are looking to save money whenever and whereever they can.  Employers are looking to save money on premiums and claims – especially claims involving extensive medical treatment and weekly wage benefits – result in higher insurance coverage costs.

Let the experience of the paralyzed and brain damaged Atlanta police officers show you that injured workers need knowledgeable and aggressive counsel to help you obtain quality medical care from competant physicians in a timely manner.  It may not be pleasant to view your workers' compensation claim as a fight but this is how you must see it.

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