Phony Claim, Assault on Co-Worker Result in 6-Month Sentence

Monday, September 11, 2017 | 1

A Southern California man who beat up a co-worker and then filed a workers’ compensation claim over an alleged forklift accident the police say never happened was sentenced to six months in jail after pleading guilty to assault and insurance fraud, according to a report by the Orange County Register.

Randal B. McKay pleaded guilty to felony charges of assault with force likely to produce great bodily injury and filing a false claim for insurance benefits, the Register reports. In addition to the six month sentence, McKay was also ordered to serve five years of formal probation.

The charges stem from a 2014 fight between McKay and a co-worker at Cartel Industries in Irvine.

McKay claimed his colleague tried to hit him with a forklift. While the employer was investigating the claim, McKay punched his co-worker in the head. The victim required eight stitches and suffered a mild concussion from the attack, the Orange County District Attorney’s Office said in March.

On the same day of the assault, McKay filed a report with the Irvine Police Department saying his co-worker intentionally hit him with a forklift. The Police Department investigation determined McKay was not hit with a forklift.

Nonetheless, McKay five days later filed a workers’ compensation claim for injuries he said he sustained after being hit by a forklift. A Workers’ Compensation Appeals Board judge determined McKay was not hit by a forklift and wasn’t injured.

Perjury charges for WCAB testimony in which McKay said he was hit by a forklift, and a second count of filing a false claim, were dismissed as part of the plea agreement, according to the Orange County Register.