Imagine this scenario: You’re at work, going about your day, when you suffer an injury. It’s serious enough to require medical attention, so you report it to your employer. Instead of showing concern, they ask you to lie about how it happened when speaking to the doctor. It’s a tough spot to be in. What do you do?
If you’ve found yourself in this situation, you’re not alone—and you have options to set things right. Some employers pressure injured workers to lie to medical professionals about their injuries to try to avoid responsibility and escape their workers’ compensation obligations. However, injured workers should never lie to doctors about work-related injuries. Doing so can hurt your health, your credibility, and your ability to secure the workers’ compensation benefits you deserve.
Always Be Honest in Medical Evaluations
When you visit a doctor for a work-related injury, their job is to diagnose and document your condition accurately. If the doctor doesn’t get the full truth—whether you minimize the severity of your injury or omit key details—they might make incorrect notes or provide care that doesn’t fully address your needs. Furthermore, it can completely jeopardize your ability to get workers’ compensation benefits.
For example, if you were injured by slipping on a wet floor at work, your medical documentation should reflect that. If you tell the doctor the injury happened at home instead, it creates a discrepancy that will very likely harm your case. You can’t expect to get workers’ comp benefits if you don’t report that your injury was work-related. Worse, an inaccurate diagnosis or treatment plan could delay proper care, allowing your injury to worsen.
Put simply: Never lie to a medical professional about your injury or illness, especially not when workers’ compensation benefits are on the line.
What to Do If Your Employer Pressures You to Lie to a Doctor
Being asked to lie about your injury to a medical provider can be intimidating because your employer is a person with authority over you; that’s just how it is with an employer-employee relationship. It’s natural to worry about your job security or retaliation if you don’t listen to their demands or “suggestions.” However, you have rights as a worker that should stand between you and any unfair treatment for telling the truth to your doctor.
If an employer asks you to lie to avoid workers’ compensation obligations, you should:
- Refuse to lie: Politely but firmly explain that you know that honesty is important for your medical care and workers’ compensation process. You are not obligated to follow unethical instructions, even from your employer. Furthermore, your employment contract cannot require you to falsify information that you provide to your medical doctor.
- Document conversations: Write down the details of any interactions where you were pressured to lie, including dates, times, and what was said. This documentation can protect you if the situation escalates and your employer tries to retaliate later, which would be unlawful.
- Report unethical behavior: If your company has an HR department, report the incident. Employers asking employees to lie is often a violation of company policies and state law, especially when workers’ compensation is mixed into the situation.
- Consult an attorney: When you’ve been pressured to lie, talk to an experienced workers’ compensation lawyer right away. A lawyer can help you understand your rights and what to do next to pursue the workers’ comp benefits you need without worrying about employer retaliation. Also, if your employer does retaliate against you after reporting your work injury, you should talk to an employment law attorney, who may have a different area of legal focus than your workers’ comp attorney.
Get Legal Help If Your Employer Tampers with Your Workers’ Comp Case
At Hyland, Padilla & Fowler, PLLC in North Carolina, we know how overwhelming it can feel to deal with workplace injuries and the workers’ compensation process—especially when employers aren’t honest or supportive. That’s why we’re here to help anyone in our communities who has been injured at work.
Our team of experienced attorneys stands up for injured workers throughout Durham, Raleigh, and the surrounding regions in the state. If your employer has pressured you to lie to a doctor or otherwise tampered with your workers’ compensation case, we can help you take the right steps forward to pursue the workers’ comp benefits you need. Let us guide you through filing your claim, gathering the evidence needed to support your case, and navigating legal complexities on your behalf. We’re not just lawyers, we are your friends and neighbors who believe in helping people in need.
Contact us online or call (919) 891-8361 to get honest legal counsel for your workers’ comp case in North Carolina.