Washington Man Gets $114,000 Workers' Comp Bill

April 4, 2002
A 48-year-old laborer and farm worker has been ordered to repay the state $114,000 in benefits and penalties he fraudulently collected while working at various jobs in Central Washington.

A 48-year-old laborer and farm worker has been ordered to repay the state $114,000 in benefits and penalties he fraudulently collected while working at various jobs in Central Washington.

A fraud investigation conducted by the state''s Department of Labor and Industries (L&I) found that over a period of six years, Francisco Soriano-Arias worked under the alias of Juan Martinez while collecting benefits for an injury he sustained in 1980. The L&I fraud order includes a 50 percent penalty on the benefits he collected between 1994 and 2000.

Soriano-Arias was using the name Juan Rameriz when he was working for a potato processing plant in Pasco on Aug. 28, 1980. He was cleaning a potato machine when his right hand got caught in the machinery. Three surgeries followed, including one in 1989 to reconstruct his hand.

L&I attempted to close the claim over the years, but each time Soriano-Arias and his attorney appealed and won. Attempts at vocational rehabilitation failed.

L&I launched its investigation after receiving an anonymous letter alleging Soriano-Arias had been working under an alias and using another Social Security number. The investigation found that while claiming he was disabled and collecting benefits, Soriano-Arias worked at a variety of full-time jobs.

The investigation of Soriano-Arias is part of a stepped-up fraud investigation effort at all levels by L&I. Over the past 12 months, the agency has issued dozens of fraud orders against workers who were illegally collecting time-loss benefits. Some of the orders have been to collect payments and penalties as high as $425,000.

With the support of county prosecutors, L&I pursued providers who defraud taxpayers and the agency. In one case, the owner of a hearing aid company went to jail for improperly billing L&I.

The agency also has stepped up its audits of unregistered employers who don''t report hours and aren''t contributing their fair share to the workers'' compensation fund. In the most recent two-year period, ending Feb. 28, 2002, L&I conducted 1,364 audits and assessed more than $5.6 million in premiums.

The Department of Labor and Industries manages the state''s workers'' compensation system. It provides coverage for 163,000 employers and more than 1.9 million workers.

by Sandy Smith ([email protected])

About the Author

EHS Today Staff

EHS Today's editorial staff includes:

Dave Blanchard, Editor-in-Chief: During his career Dave has led the editorial management of many of Endeavor Business Media's best-known brands, including IndustryWeekEHS Today, Material Handling & LogisticsLogistics Today, Supply Chain Technology News, and Business Finance. In addition, he serves as senior content director of the annual Safety Leadership Conference. With over 30 years of B2B media experience, Dave literally wrote the book on supply chain management, Supply Chain Management Best Practices (John Wiley & Sons, 2021), which has been translated into several languages and is currently in its third edition. He is a frequent speaker and moderator at major trade shows and conferences, and has won numerous awards for writing and editing. He is a voting member of the jury of the Logistics Hall of Fame, and is a graduate of Northern Illinois University.

Adrienne Selko, Senior Editor: In addition to her roles with EHS Today and the Safety Leadership Conference, Adrienne is also a senior editor at IndustryWeek and has written about many topics, with her current focus on workforce development strategies. She is also a senior editor at Material Handling & Logistics. Previously she was in corporate communications at a medical manufacturing company as well as a large regional bank. She is the author of Do I Have to Wear Garlic Around My Neck?, which made the Cleveland Plain Dealer's best sellers list.

Nicole Stempak, Managing Editor:  Nicole Stempak is managing editor of EHS Today and conference content manager of the Safety Leadership Conference.

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