Double-Dipping Plumber Sentenced to 45 Days' Home Detention

Monday, April 30, 2018 | 0

A plumber who ran a private business while claiming he was unable to work because of an occupational injury was ordered to serve 45 days of house arrest, the Washington state Department of Labor and Industries announced.

Bobby E. Stepp, 66, lost his right left in a workplace accident in 2004, the department said. He received medical and indemnity benefits through early 2015, when the department opened an investigation after records from the Employment Security Department showed that he was earning wages.

The department said Stepp worked was a plumber for two companies in 2014, and then started his own business installing bathtubs.

Stepp’s company made $144,000 in the second half of 2014, the department said. During the same period he received $29,000 in indemnity benefits and claimed that he was not working.

Stepp will have to return to court June 8 for a restitution hearing.