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What's On Your Facebook Page?

We tell our clients that if they lie to us about their injuries or other losses, we will fire them.  It’s simple.  We will never represent a client who we know is lying and will not waste our time or the court’s time trying to support an injury claim if we ever find out it is not true. 

It’s now easier than ever to catch people in these lies.  With the increasing use of social media, insurance companies and others are checking out claimants’ social media sites.  It wasn’t long ago that only college kids were on Facebook, but now there are plenty of grandmothers who are among the millions worldwide who are there. 

A recent dispute arose in Virginia over whether Facebook would be required to disclose the full contents of a user’s account.  The dispute involved a workers’ compensation claim by Shana Hensley in which she claimed she suffered a back injury while she was at work.   Her former employer thought her holiday vacation pictures on Facebook supported its position that she was not as injured as she said she was.  It subpoenaed her Facebook account contents, and Facebook refused to provide it. 

In this case, Ms. Hensley’s lawyer says she has nothing to hide, and Ms. Hensley has signed a release so her former employer can get her Facebook account contents.  Good for her. 

But liars better beware.