Depressed woman loses benefits over Facebook photos

[David Baxter PhD]

Depressed woman loses benefits over Facebook photos
Thursday, November 19, 2009
CBC News

A Quebec woman on long-term sick leave is fighting to have her benefits reinstated after her employer's insurance company cut them, she says, because of photos posted on Facebook.

Nathalie Blanchard, 29, has been on leave from her job at IBM in Bromont, Que., for the last year and a half after she was diagnosed with major depression.

The Eastern Townships woman was receiving monthly sick-leave benefits from Manulife, her insurance company, but the payments dried up this fall.

When Blanchard called Manulife, the company said that "I'm available to work, because of Facebook," she told CBC News this week.

She said her insurance agent described several pictures Blanchard posted on the popular social networking site, including ones showing her having a good time at a Chippendales bar show, at her birthday party and on a sun holiday ? evidence that she is no longer depressed, Manulife said.

Blanchard said she notified Manulife that she was taking a trip, and she's shocked the company would investigate her in such a manner and interpret her photos that way.

"In the moment I'm happy, but before and after I have the same problems" as before, she said.

Blanchard said that on her doctor's advice, she tried to have fun, including nights out at her local bar with friends and short getaways to sun destinations, as a way to forget her problems.

She also doesn?t understand how Manulife accessed her photos because her Facebook profile is locked and only people she approves can look at what she posts.

Insurer confirms it uses Facebook
Her lawyer Tom Lavin said Manulife's investigation was inappropriate.

"I don't think for judging a mental state that Facebook is a very good tool," he said, adding that he has requested another psychiatric evaluation for Blanchard.

"It's not as if somebody had a broken back and there was a picture of them carrying with a load of bricks," Lavin said. "My client was diagnosed with a major depression. And there were pictures of her on Facebook, in a party or having a good time. It could be that she was just trying to escape."

Manulife wouldn't comment on Blanchard's case, but in a written statement sent to CBC News, the insurer said: "We would not deny or terminate a valid claim solely based on information published on websites such as Facebook." It confirmed that it uses the popular social networking site to investigate clients.

Insurance companies must weigh information found on such sites, said Claude Distasio, a spokeswoman for the Canadian Life and Health Insurance Association.

"We can't ignore it, wherever the source of the information is," she said. "We can't ignore it."

Blanchard estimated she?s lost thousands of dollars in benefits since Manulife changed her claim.

 

[Jackie]

This is a disgraceful thing to do to someone with depression! I think goverments and their departments have too much control over us now, they can watch our every move and we are powerless to do anything about it.

 

[David Baxter PhD]

It's a reminder, though, that anything on the net is public and accessible.

 

[Jackie]

It's a reminder, though, that anything on the net is public and accessible.

Yes, that is a fact of internet life.

NN, police and other goverment organisations can get into anything they want it happens alot in the UK, although they suppose to have good reason and have permission, they don't always go through the correct channels. In this country peoples bank accounts have been accessed by goverment departments, as have other files that suppose to be private and confidential.

 

[Andy]

Big Brother alive and well.

 

[Retired]

News reports have not contained enough information to form an opinion about the validity of the denied claim.

While we know insurance companies try various methods to reduce claim exposure for disability claims by requiring updated medical information, offers to pay off a lump sum and when fraud is suspected, to investigate the claimant's lifestyle and behaviour.

In defense of the insurance industry, one would have to be naive to believe there are no fraudulant claims so companies take steps to protect abuse.

We have often heard of stories such as claimants on diability for back injuries being denied claims after being seen loading furniture into a moving van, but with a with a diagnosis such as depression, it can be difficult for an insurance company to qualify.

The best advice, as has been stated, would be for someone in such a situation to keep a low profile especially on the internet where virtually everything posted or written can be subject to public scrutiny.

This woman may have been following her doctor's suggestions, but advertising her activities on a social networking site may have been imprudent at best in drawing the attention of her disability payer.

There are some things that common sense would dictate not be done, to avoid unnecessary focus to what you might be doing, such as:

1) passing a police car on the right then cutting him off and speeding away, because you are late for an appointment
2) holding a piece of raw meat in the face of a hungry pit bull
3) talking about your plans to take off from the office early around the water cooler to catch a baseball game, when the boss asked you to finish a project.
4) posting photos of frolicking in the sun and partying with friends all over the internet with these postings linked to your real name and address, while receiving disability insurance for an incapacitating illness.

 

[Retired]

My biggest concern is a view stating that depressed means feeling fully emersed in a negative, sad, horrible state

Agreed, and this may well be the underlying issue in this report, without having all the details; although it is hard to imagine a major Canadian insurer would have so little understanding of the illness, and base a denial on one bit of circumstantial, albeit sensational evidence.

I feel the broader point of this story is that certain behaviours are innappropriate in certain situations.

Just like it would be inappropriate and stupid to talk about explosives aboard an aircraft, or make silly jokes about drug smuggling while passing through customs, or the old stand-by...hollering "FIRE" in a movie theater, I believe someone receiving disability benefits is being provocative and irresponsible in maintaining their credibility by advertising activities and behaviours that could be interpreted as in conflict with the terms of their disability, on an internet social networking site, or other public venue.

Law enforcers routinely use investigative techniques to uncover unlawful behaviour, and this is just one of them.

As to your point, however, we have to hope the investigators and decision makers for this insurance company understand the complexities of depression and other mental illnesses, and if they don't they might use this opportunity for additional staff training.

 

[J PTSD]

I guess I'm more depressed. I have a hard time leaving the house, let alone being in a crowded noisy place. That's just me I guess.

 

[Retired]

Welcome to Psychlinks J PTSD.

How has your life and/or your employment been affected by your difficulty?

 

[Chain Lightning]

Who the **** is going to post pix of themselves crying on their FB page? WTF Personally when I am depressed I don't have fun if I go out but there are people with "atypical depresion" and they do that. AND don't people w/ regular depression have episodes and then they're ok until the next one. So maybe they have fun then? JFC why do ignorant people get to make descisions like this???

 

[J PTSD]

Welcome to Psychlinks J PTSD.

How has your life and/or your employment been affected by your difficulty?

Well, I was trying to do my best not to tell what job I have, or should I say had.
BUT since I'm doing THAT job, I was a school bus driver. I was for 22 years. I quit and am going to school to get some training for a different type of job.