Verizon Tech Lifts Weights Despite Injuries, Inspector General Says

Monday, December 7, 2020 | 0

A Verizon technician has been charged with falsifying records and committing fraud after she claimed a debilitating injury but was filmed lifting weights at a gym, authorities said Friday.

Kelly Gersbacher, 44, was arrested Thursday night in East Syracuse Village and is accused of fraudulently accepting more than $19,000 in workers' compensation benefits, the New York State Inspector General announced.

“This individual allegedly abused the workers’ compensation system by lying to doctors about the extent of her injuries,” Inspector General Letizia Tagliafierro said in a statement. “The workers’ compensation program provides vital funds to those who are truly injured and in need.”

Gersbacher claimed carpal tunnel injuries to both arms in 2016 and underwent multiple surgeries over the next three years. At independent medical examinations, she claimed she could lift no more than 10 pounds, and she began collecting benefits in 2019, Tagliafierro said.

But video surveillance showed the woman working out at gyms, dead-lifting heavy weights, and running errands, apparently without physical difficulty, the inspector general's office said.

Tagliafierro said Sedgwick Claims Management, the third-party administrator for Verizon New York, assisted in the investigation.