Attorney Thomas Videon of our office recently argued a case which resulted in the judge disqualifying the claimant from benefits from this July forward. The injury itself was a legitimate injury to the left shoulder which resulted in surgery earlier this year. Although the claimant had admitted that he owned a clothing business, he minimized his activities by saying at one point that he only gave away clothing to family members and his girlfriend. He testified that he really would not have the business up and running until his compensation claim was closed.
Meanwhile, Thomas had performed Internet searches of the claimant’s clothing brand. The claimant had been active on Instagram promoting his clothing and even participated in a fashion show in September 2023 when he claimed to be temporarily totally disabled and was receiving benefits accordingly. Although the claimant’s business was promoted in local media prior to the fashion show, the claimant testified that he only took pictures of models and made no sales.
The judge was unimpressed with the claimant’s testimony, finding it purposefully evasive in the face of the information that Thomas had uncovered. She disqualified the claimant from all indemnity benefits from 7/22/24 forward. Thomas showed that careful research and skillful cross-examination is always in fashion in producing good results for our clients.
