Workers’ Compensation Claim
Becoming injured on the job is a problem for a lot of workers. When you’re injured it can hurt your job security, lead to financial burdens, and otherwise reduce your earning potential. The best protection that an employee can rely on is workers’ compensation. This is coverage that provides protection to employees by offering compensation. Of course, when dealing with workers’ compensation insurance companies, you have to keep in mind that it is a for-profit business for them. This means that they will want to prove that you are not as injured as you may be. One way that companies do this is through surveillance.
Private Investigator Rights
Insurance companies are allowed to hire private investigators. These investigators can follow you in public or take video and photographic evidence as long as you are in a public space. In addition, he or she may interview your neighbors or friends. He or she may even make up an identity to gain more information. All of this is legal. Insurance companies have a right to obtain evidence that may help their case. This sometimes means having a person gain information from witnesses, friends, and neighbors and to determine if a person is injured. This does not mean that investigators never break the law, though.
Employee Rights
You do have a right to privacy in your own home. If an investigator looks through your windows or tries to film you while you are in your home, then odds are he or she is breaking the law. If you notice someone outside your window or if you think that someone is spying on you in the privacy of your home, then contact the police immediately. If you feel unsafe for any reason, even when you are in public, then you can always call the police for extra help. While investigators are allowed to take videos of you in public and to interview those who know you, you do have a right to feel safe and you are allowed privacy in your own home.
Are you worried about your rights to privacy after you filed a workers’ compensation claim? No matter where you are in the filing stage, it can be difficult to navigate the process and to know what your rights are. One of your best possible options is to contact a workers’ compensation attorney, like a New Jersey workers’ compensation attorney, to go over your rights and to make sure that you receive the compensation that you deserve. Do not let surveillance deter you from following through with your claim.
Thanks to Rispoli & Borneo, P.C. for their insight into your right to privacy after filing a workers’ compensation claim.