Workers’ compensation fraud can be fun! Until it’s not.

Listen. It’s perfectly okay to have the impulse to beat someone into a human stew. It’s perfectly okay to act on that impulse if it’s within the confines of a ring and the realm of a sanctioned bout. It would be to your benefit, though, to not claim to be disabled in any form or fashion, collect workers’ comp benefits as a result, and then participate in MMA fights wherein you scoop up victories and glory and paydays.

This goes double if the bouts are being filmed and then archived online–alongside your record of extensive wins–where your name and likeness are easily unearthed.

Silly Raphael Davis. While he has a pretty solid record as a Mixed Martial Arts competitor, he’s not really strong in the forward-thinking or honesty departments. The Los Angeles firefighter, who is nicknamed ‘The Noodle’ in fight circles, was arrested on April 10^th at his home. According to the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s office, Davis was picked up on suspicion of insurance fraud; he ended up being charged with four felony counts.

According to records, the LAFD employee filed for workers’ comp benefits from December 2, 2008 until May 20, 2011. During this span of time, he competed in several (at least seven) MMA fights, winning all of them save one. It stands to reason that this showing might run counter to his claim that he was unable to work because of temporary total disability.  The fact that he climbed into the ring in the first place, most judges would opine, negates his claim:  He who can withstand (or deliver) a fierce beating can carry a firehose.

The healthy stack of wins will just be icing on the prosecution’s case against Mister The Noodle, who is being held in lieu of $30K bail and could face a five-year prison sentence if convicted. The Noodle could possibly have saved himself all this messy trouble if he had just read my post on what the internet could potentially do to your Georgia workers’ compensation claim.

In fact, perhaps Davis should look up that stripper from a couple of years ago who was collecting workers’ compensation benefits while actively skinning a pole dancing. They can trade anecdotes about their cases!  Or they could talk about fancy things like video cameras and the internet, both of which make life difficult if you are trying to break the law and get away with it.

If you have a legitimate workers’ compensation claim in Georgia, give Moebes Law, LLC a call at 404-354-5432.  We’ll leave the phone on for you.