Practicing Social Media Safety
Social media is a powerful and very useful tool. Family members can stay connected even if they live across the country or around the world. People of all ages can update their family and friends on their lives and keep up with others’ lives too. However, while social media is useful and fun at times, it’s important to remember that social media postings can be used against you, especially if you’ve been in an accident. June is National Safety Month and June 30 marks Social Media Day, which makes this the perfect opportunity to focus on practicing social media safety. This topic comes up in many of our cases, though many people might not realize it applies to our industry. When someone files a personal injury claim, they often don’t realize how much harm their social media accounts can unintentionally do to them and their case. Keep in mind that attorneys and investigators regularly check the social media accounts and posts of all persons involved in an active case. A post that you might think has no impact could actually have significant consequences. The smallest remark about the accident or the injuries you’ve received — even something such as “I’m feeling much better today”— can be used as evidence to show that your injuries aren’t as bad as you first claimed. Additionally, you may accidentally contradict your own testimony. If, for example, you happen to break your leg but post about going to the pool with your family, the defense can use that information to challenge the testimony about your injuries. At Hare Wynn, once we take a client’s case, we always highly recommend that they do not post about it online. This includes any facts, details, or even the smallest amount of information about your case. We encourage all our clients not to mention anything online that has to do with their injuries or the accident itself at any point during their case in order to help avoid misinterpretations and prevent harming your case.
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statement not been false. If the government loans or grants money based on a falsified application, the damages can be three times the amount of the loan or grant. In addition to those damages, the court must also assess a civil penalty of not less than $5,500 and not more than $11,000 (currently $11,665–$23,331) for each false claim. For example, each falsified application for relief funds; each falsified application for a relief grant; each overinflated or falsified invoice; and each falsified quality certification, electronic health care claim for payment, UB-92, or CMS form 1500 submitted for payment would be a separate false claim subject to penalty. The same is true for any document created or submitted to support the claim. THEWHISTLEBLOWER’S SHARE For the whistleblower’s efforts in bringing the fraud and evidence to the attention of the government and prosecuting the lawsuit, a qualifying whistleblower is entitled to share in any recovery by way of verdict or settlement. The amount of the whistleblower’s share is between 15%–30% of the recovery depending on a number of factors and the amount of assistance the whistleblower and their lawyer provided to the government. HOWTO REPORT FRAUDTOTHE GOVERNMENT The attorneys at Hare Wynn have over 60 years of experience handling False Claims Act cases and have recovered over $1.7 billion for the United States Treasury. We can help you prepare your evidence for reporting to the government so your case receives the attention it deserves. Contact Hare Wynn for a free consultation on how we can represent you in reporting fraud to government so our stolen tax dollars can be recovered, and you can be rewarded for your efforts and evidence. We handle False Claims Act cases on a contingency basis. If you don’t recover a whistleblower award, then there is no fee for our services.
-Don McKenna
800-568-5330 • 3
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