A Pierce County, Washington, man has been ordered to pay back more than $60,000 to Washington’s workers’ compensation fund after videos reportedly showed he was working and carrying heavy objects in the years he was allegedly unable to work from an injury.
Juan P. Delgado claimed his on-the-job injuries from falling off a ladder prevented him from working for nearly three years. However, investigators discovered he was working the entire time, according to the Washington State Department of Labor & Industries.
Delgado was working as a roofer in Tacoma when he fell more than six feet from a ladder, injuring his back, ankle and knee in March 2019. His doctor confirmed he could not work, and Delgado regularly completed official L&I forms stating he was not working due to the workplace injuries.
But in early 2021, a private investigator told L&I that Delgado was working, according to charging papers. The roofing company that employed Delgado when he was injured had hired the investigator to look into his work status.
L&I launched its own investigation that reportedly found Delgado resumed working within a couple weeks of his injury without telling L&I. Over the next three years, he continuously held jobs as a custodian, roofer or house-cleaner emptying and preparing vacant homes for sale.
While investigating Delgado’s claim in October 2022, an L&I undercover investigator reportedly asked Delgado if he could have a table that he was discarding by a Tacoma house. Delgado agreed, and carried the table alone more than 50 feet, unaware another investigator was filming him to produce video evidence, according to L&I.
Investigators later weighed the table and found it to be 48.6 pounds. At the time, Delgado was medically restricted to lift no more than 25 pounds, charging papers said.
Delgado’s doctor watched the video of the table activity and other surveillance, and said Delgado had not accurately represented his physical abilities to him, charging papers said. The physician determined Delgado was able to resume roofing work.
Delgado, 51, pleaded guilty to second-degree malicious mischief, a felony, for unlawfully taking payments from the L&I from April 2019 to January 2022. Pierce County Superior Court Pro Tem Judge Brian Tollefson ordered Delgado to pay $60,116 in restitution to L&I and serve 20 days in electronic home monitoring.
The Washington State Attorney General’s Office prosecuted the case.
Was this article valuable?
Here are more articles you may enjoy.