Congratulations to Jones Jones LLC Partner Katherine Caracappa and her all-female construction defense team for securing a disallowance on a recent fraud case before the New York State Workers’ Compensation Board. Fraud and construction are being scrutinized by both the Board, as well as other state and federal entities due to the recent Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) cases making headlines throughout New York.
In the case at hand, the plaintiff originally reported slipping on debris causing injury while working at a construction site. A similar case was also filed by another plaintiff with very similar fact patterns and medical details. Both plaintiffs claimed to be injured on the same day, at the same jobsite and appeared to be injured in the same manner. The two individuals initially went to the same hospital, were treated by the same physicians, were represented by the same law firm and switched to another law firm together. In addition to the questionable coincidences, the original claimant reported contradictory medical histories regarding the nature of their injuries and failed to mention the supposed witness (the other plaintiff) on his employee claim (C-3) form.
During cross-examination, Caracappa and her team pushed the claimant on conflicting testimonies including differing mechanisms of injuries that was recounted in a variety of documents- both legal in nature and medical. Additionally, Caracappa was able to bring to the Law Judge’s attention the plaintiff’s failure to mention any witnesses -including the other alleged plaintiff- and the interesting question as to how both plaintiffs come to have the same legal representation.
The undertones of the recent RICO cases impacting the New York construction industry prompted the law judge’s decision to find fraud on this case. The law judge noted similar fact patterns in both cases, with neither acknowledging each other in their own cases. Based on the RICO concerns throughout the case, the law judge also noted it would be referred for criminal prosecution.
“Katie and her team exemplified an aggressive and thorough strategy that resulted in this outcome,” said Jones Jones Managing Partner Sarah Thomas. “Construction fraud in New York is a reality, as can be seen with the recent RICO cases. Law judges are taking notice and one key to success with these types of cases is looking for inconsistencies as Katie and her team did in this situation. We are proud the contributions these talented attorneys made in addressing a statewide problem that impacts real-world inflationary items like rising real estate costs, insurance premiums and more.”
If you are in need of assistance with a workers’ compensation case, please contact our appellate team at clientservices@jonesjonesllc.com.