Northern California rice mill worker gets probation, fine for workers’ compensation fraud
A rice grader who received workers’ compensation benefits has been sentenced and fined, according to the California Department of Insurance.
Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara announced Monday that Brooke Gomez of Maxwell has been sentenced to 12 months of probation and required to pay restitution in a workers’ compensation insurance fraud case.
Gomez, 29, pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor charge in Colusa County Superior Court.
CDI alleged that Gomez, who worked as a rice grader, filed a workers’ compensation claim after sustaining an abdominal injury while lifting bags of rice on Aug. 14, 2019.
Gomez received workers’ compensation payments, but her coworkers reported seeing her working as a bartender, according to state records. Meanwhile, insurance regulators said, Gomez had told her employer, a rice mill, that she received offers for part-time work from several employers but had declined them because of her injury.
Using undercover surveillance, CDI investigators found that Gomez misrepresented her symptoms to medical professionals and those handling her claim. They showed Gomez “interacting with customers, serving drinks, completing cash transactions with patrons and wiping down tables – all functions she claimed not to be able to do as a result of her injury.”
During surveillance the investigators said Gomez discussed her workers’ compensation claim with bar patrons and expressed hopes of not getting caught working while receiving benefits.
In a news release issued Monday, CDI officials said Gomez received $6,893 in undeserved workers’ compensation payments and her employers’ insurance company lost an additional $8,992 in legal and investigation costs.
In the workers’ compensation fraud cases, prosecuted by the Yolo County District Attorney’s Office, Gomez was ordered to pay $6,000 in restitution and $630 in fines.
This story was originally published May 3, 2021 at 5:26 PM with the headline "Northern California rice mill worker gets probation, fine for workers’ compensation fraud."
