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Workers' Compensation and Social Networking Profiles
If you are seeking workers' compensation be aware your social networking activities may be used against you.
October 14, 2011 /Law and Legal PR News/ -- The proliferation of social networking websites such as Facebook and MySpace have allowed people to keep in contact with and communicate with more and more individuals. These websites allow you to discuss topics of interest, share information about your family activities and travels, post photographs and videos of those activities, or express any thoughts or concerns you may have about any topic under the sun.
It is important to remember, however, to use discretion when sharing information. Any information that you share, no matter how inconsequential you may consider it, can and most likely will be used against you if you are involved in a lawsuit or other legal action. This is particularly true if you are seeking workers' compensation benefits.
Attorneys, just like you, have access to the Internet, and they will use it to search for information about you in an effort to bolster their case. For instance, after you file a workers' compensation claim, a defense attorney may search Facebook, MySpace and other social networking websites like Twitter for information that you may have posted that relates to your claim.
Note that this information extends beyond your thoughts on the actual injury to include photos and comments about what you did last night or over the weekend. If you post a photo of a night out (after you suffered an injury), even if you just sat around, that photo may be used to downplay the severity of your injury.
To get a hold of this information, an attorney uses a process called discovery. Generally, there are two types of discovery; informal and formal.
Informal discovery involves the collection of information that is publically available. This could include observing you around town to see how an injury hampers your movement or running a search on the Internet. Because of the popularity of social networking websites, searching these sites is very important for attorneys. If your privacy settings are set to allow public viewing, a workers' compensation attorney for the defense may be able to learn a lot about you and how an injury is affecting your life, without ever talking to you.
Formal discovery is the process of an attorney receiving information that is not publically available. During the discovery process, if a defense attorney specifically asks for certain information (and it is relevant to the lawsuit) the judge may ask you to turn the information over. In the case of social networking evidence, if you are unable to turn the information over, the social networking website may be able to turn this information over for you. Moreover, because of the user agreement, they may be able to do this against your wishes.
Privacy Settings
Social networking websites allow the user to set their privacy settings at different levels. A user may leave the privacy settings at "public", which would allow anyone searching for your profile to find it and view all information on your profile. You may also set your privacy settings to private so that you can limit the number of people that view your profile to only those people you allow to do so -- a person who is not your "friend" on the website would not be able to view this information after a general search.
However, this information may not stay as private as you would like during the discovery phase of a workers' compensation lawsuit. But, by having your settings at private, you prevent an attorney from searching your private information without a judge allowing them to do so through formal discovery.
Admissibility of Social Networking Evidence
Even though social networking websites have gained in popularity in recent years, case law as to the admissibility of the information contained on them is relatively limited.
An article on workerscompensation.com notes that evidence from social networking websites has been admissible in cases concerning family law and criminal law; therefore, it is reasonable to assume that comments, photos and other information contained on a social networking profile will most likely be admissible during a workers' compensation case.
Further, it should be noted that judges often enjoy a little more latitude as to what evidence is or is not admissible in a workers' compensation case. This means that as long as the judge finds the evidence to be relevant it will probably be admitted by the workers' compensation judge.
Use Discretion, Speak to an Attorney
Before posting comments, photos or blogs of your latest night out, activities or travels, consider the ramifications that those posts could have, especially if you were recently injured at work. This information may not stay as private as you would desire. Even when you are truly injured, information can be misconstrued and used against you. Think before you post: Do you want your employer to see this information? Could this information have a detrimental effect on your workers' compensation claim?
Talk to a workers' compensation attorney after you suffer an injury at work. An attorney can answer any questions and help you through the process of applying for and receiving workers' compensation benefits.
Article provided by Robert A. Koenigsberg Law Offices
Visit us at www.nyworkerscomplawyer.com
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