Natalie Blanchard was on leave from her job after being diagnosed with major depression. She began receiving sick-leave benefits from her employer's insurance company, ABCNews.com reported Monday.
Then the checks stopped, Blanchard says. When she contacted Canada's Manulife Financial, she was told the pictures showed she wasn't depressed and could return to work.
"It's not because I'm having fun three hours, one time a week some weeks that I'm in good shape. Nobody knows how I feel before and after the event," Blanchard said.
Blanchard and her lawyer are taking legal action against Manulife and her employer, arguing she was following doctor's orders to socialize with family and friends to the extent she was able.
"Using (the pictures) alone to determine that she's better now and able to work, I think is inappropriate," her lawyer Thomas Lavin said. "It's really jumping the gun."
Manulife declined to talk about the specifics of Blanchard's case, ABCNews.com said.
Copyright 2009 by United Press International.
I've read several news
I've read several news articles and researched for additional details before coming to a conclusion.
I'm sorry to say this, but it sounds like to me that this woman is just lazy. Anyone who really had a depression [or other mental] problem would NOT be posting photos on facebook, much less continuing to post photos on facebook. This whole "I have a depression problem" is just one that ANYONE can fake.
Now as for the argument of how facebook profiles should have been locked and private... there is NO such thing as keeping things "safe" and locked on the net. ANYTHING that gets posted or sent [yes that includes EMAIL] through the net STAYS on the net. I've known this simple FACT for years.
As for the insurance company being "in the wrong" to snoop and discontinue her benefits... I'm sorry, but they have every right to know if someone is handing them a line a sh!t just to get free money out of the deal. There ARE people out there who REALLY do need and deserve to have health insurance, but don't get it because of individuals like this woman who make it bad for everyone else. I commend the insurance company for buckling down and I wish that other leeching individuals would get caught and cut off too.
Bottom line: it doesn't pay to be a thief, liar, lazy, money moocher. Let this be a lesson for anyone who thinks it's ok to suck on the system while others pay their hard earned money for it. IBM would be wise to not allow the woman to come back to the job. Instead, they should tell her to take a hike, as this story I'm sure will have some sort of bad reflection on the corporation. If this woman is capable of going to a beach weekly and capable of going to night clubs to see male dancers, then she's most certainly capable of working a normal job like a normal human being.
Don't feel sorry for con artists. They're good at sucking people dry of their money.
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