From California to New York, Comp Time has noticed that correctional officers and other prison employees make the news with some regularity for work comp fraud allegations or convictions.

It happens enough that someone should study whether working in a prison increases the propensity for such crime. Or does comp fraud by prison guards just get reported more often because they are public-sector employees expected to enforce the law and not violate it?

While correctional officer comp fraud is at least as common as it is among other professions, the latest allegations are highly unusual and even amusing.

The Associated Press and other news organizations report that a California correctional officer allegedly filed a comp claim stating a parolee shot him when he was really shot at a sex club for swingers the officer and his wife attended.

The shooting left the 44-year-old paralyzed and nearly resulted in a $2.5 million comp settlement. But then investigators learned the prison guard was shot after he and his wife engaged in sex with another couple. It seems there was a dispute over a broken condom.

In contrast to paying $2.5 million to settle a claim that may be bogus, the State Compensation Insurance Fund spent $6,500 in investigation costs, the news reports state. Lawmakers in Colorado contemplating limits on comp surveillance might want to review this case.

In other news, Julie Ferguson at Lynch Ryan's Workers' Comp Insider weblog compiled links to a number of stories reporting on the impact of the new health care reform law.

And, the New York State Insurance Department reported this week that it saw a 24% jump in insurance fraud across various lines during 2009. Comp fraud arrests totaling 184 for the year represented a 16% increase. An Insurance Department press release on the matter is available here.