Malingering Verizon worker to pay comp restitution
A Verizon worker caught on camera going to a gym and lifting weights while claiming she was too injured to work agreed to plead guilty to a misdemeanor and pay $19,890 in restitution, the New York Inspector General’s Office announced.
Kelly M. Gersbacher, 45, said she suffered carpal tunnel in both arms while working for Verizon in 2016. She had several surgeries between 2017 and 2019, when she started receiving workers compensation benefits.
Ms. Gersbacher said she could lift only 10 pounds and was not able to continue going to the gym.
“However, video surveillance from September and October 2019 found that Gersbacher was working out at gyms and conducting multiple errands, all in no apparent distress,” the Inspector General’s Office said in a statement. “She was filmed as she performed deadlifts with weights far exceeding 10 pounds and engaged in other weightlifting activity.”
In addition to restitution, Ms. Gersbacher was sentenced to a one-year conditional discharge.
