Joshua Solomon of our office recently prevailed in a fraud claim and achieved a finding of lifetime claimant disqualification from indemnity benefits. In this case, the claimant had an established claim for injuries to the hip and right knee. The injury occurred in early 2019 and in February of this year, testimony was taken on the claimant’s work history and vocational factors as the case was ripe for a decision on permanency.

It was only after the claimant testified that her attorney disclosed that the claimant owned a beauty salon where she would collect rent. Joshua made a further request for development of the record on the issue of fraud. At a subsequent hearing held in June of this year, the claimant then testified that she had owned a hair salon since 2008 or 2009. She admitted she would rent out chairs to hairstylists, answer the phone, and schedule appointments. Prior to May 2024, the claimant also cut hair herself. She paid rent to her husband, filed income taxes and paid insurance.

In finding fraud and disqualifying the claimant from further indemnity benefits, the Law Judge credited Joshua’s argument that prior to her June testimony, the claimant clearly denied any other jobs. From the inception of the case, the claimant was working and owned the salon. The judge found that the claimant shirked her obligation to disclose work activity. The judge specifically noted that she denied work activity to both our client’s consulting doctor and her own physician’s assistant. The judge specifically found that the discretionary penalty of permanent forfeiture of future benefits is appropriate in light of the claimant’s repeated misrepresentations to both doctors and the board regarding her work  at the salon.

We congratulate Joshua for this outstanding result, demonstrating that his work is, as they say, “a cut above.”

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