According to Insurance Journal, Jonathan Quezada, a 28-year-old IHOP Cook in La Mesa, California filed a workers’ compensation claim with his employer and their insurance company, alleging that he slipped and fell, fracturing his clavicle, while cleaning grill grates in the IHOP kitchen, which is classified as a normal job duty.
Quezada received workers’ compensation benefits totaling $22,781. In the meantime, Preferred Employers Insurance Company referred the claim to the California Department of Insurance and an investigation into the circumstances of Quezada’s injury ensued.
According to surveillance video inside the IHOP building, Quezada did not slip and fall. Instead, video showed Quezada and a coworker wrestling, not a normal job duty in his job description, which resulted in his fractured clavicle.
Quezada was arrested and charged last month with multiple felony counts of insurance fraud and workers’ compensation fraud, and landed himself in Sacramento County Jail with bail set at $25,000.
Surveillance cameras inside businesses continuously proves to be one of the most proactive approaches to preventing and/or discovering insurance fraud!