Private Investigator Catches Employee Working and Company Settles

Brian Bennett was on medical leave from Bath Iron Works (BIW) for his bipolar disorder and was found to be working as a paid basketball coach at Morse High School after BIW, a General Dynamics Company hired a private investigator to follow Mr. Bennett.

BIW stated they were never made aware that Mr.Bennett would continue to work as a paid basketball coach while on medical leave.

In the middle of March 2016, Mr.Bennett returned to BIW to begin working part-time again.  He was greeted by company employees and was then handed a surveillance report that was prepared by a private investigator that had been hired to watch him.

Mr. Bennett felt as though he was caught off guard by the whole ordeal according to Bangor Daily News.  He said he was doing exactly what he was supposed to do per his doctor’s orders.

Mr. Bennett was suspended from BIW for what they say was job abandonment and fraud when it was discovered that he continued to work as a basketball coach.  He was later fired that year.

Mr. Bennett was told to continue to coach at the recommendation of physiatrist to prevent social isolation while off work.  

BIW indicated in a response to a Maine Human Rights Commission’s complaint that it was not the standard in the medical community to say that Mr. Bennett couldn’t work for BIW but was able to continue coaching.  

The Maine Human Rights Commission filed a suit on behalf of Mr. Bennett indicating BIW was violating the Maine Human Rights Act, Americans with Disabilities Act and the Family Medical Leave Act.  

Bangor Daily News has since indicated that Mr. Bennett is settling with BIW but the terms of the settlement have not been released.

I would recommend reading the full article by Bangor Daily News.

Take Aways From This Story

The insurer for Mr. Bennett’s claim was identified as UNUM though I don’t know if UNUM or the employer hired the private investigator.  The company admits to hiring a private investigator but I don’t know if the surveillance assignment was issued by UNUM or not.

Hiring private investigators to conduct surveillance on a claimant (Mr. Bennett) is completely normal and happens every day by insurance companies.  And I am sure once they saw Mr. Bennett working as a coach they felt betrayed and completely justified when suspending and eventually firing him.  I can imagine this is their feelings on the matter when they claim they had no knowledge of his doctor instructing Mr. Bennett to continue working as a coach.

In the article it was implied that BIW was known to conduct surveillance on employees on medical leave, wrongfully accuse them of fraud and them terminating employees.

With that being said there are companies that are very proactive having surveillance conducted on employees that have workers compensation claims.  And I don’t believe there is anything wrong with that due to the amount of fraud happening in the world.  Many time surveillance efforts confirm the claim is legitimate which can be just as important and determine a claim is not legitimate.

I personally think that BIW was not prepared to hear that Mr. Bennett’s doctor requested he continue working as a coach.  And I personally don’t know of any files that I have worked in the past where a doctor has ever requested a claimant work another job while on leave from their current job.   This was definitely a unique situation.

Because of this misstep by BIW the claim by Mr. Bennett became much more expensive. I am sure they will be much more careful about with what they do with future employees as not to make the same mistake again.  At least that is what I would imagine that would be the case moving forward.