A Lindsay, Oklahoma, man has been charged with workers' compensation fraud after investigators say he attempted to get workers' comp benefits for injuries he sustained in a bar fight.
Justin Charles Bagley, 35, was charged in Cleveland County District Court earlier this month as the result of an investigation launched by the Workers' Compensation and Insurance Fraud Unit of the Oklahoma Attorney General's Office.
According to a court affidavit, Bagley filed a workers' compensation claim for injuries to his hand and foot in September 2012. Bagley claimed that he hurt his hand and foot when he slipped from a beam at a construction site. However, co-workers disputed the injury claim, saying that the man actually injured his hand in a bar fight prior to the alleged workplace incident.
One of his supervisors said that prior to the date of the alleged injury, he was on his way to meet Bagley and another co-worker at a bar when he received a call telling him not to come. The supervisor said the other co-worker told him that Bagley had broken his hand in a bar fight, and that the two were leaving.
The supervisor said that Bagley showed up the next day with a swollen hand that he said "hurt like hell."
Another co-worker allegedly told a Human Resources director about the bar fight prior to Bagley's claim of injury.
Investigators say in the affidavit that they also spoke to a man who claimed to be involved in the bar fight with Bagley in September 2012. They say the bar owner confirmed the incident.
The affidavit also claims that Bagley concealed the prior hand injury when he spoke to an insurance adjuster who asked if there was anything other than the alleged workplace accident that could have contributed to his broken hand. Bagley replied, "No, pretty much felt that one when it happened."
An x-ray of the injured hand taken on the day of the alleged workplace accident revealed a "slight amount of bony callus in the fracture," according to the affidavit. According to the doctor who evaluated the x-rays, it would be impossible for callus to be present on the day of the injury, and that it would take two to three weeks to develop after the injury was sustained.
Bagley denies the fraud and maintains that he was injured at work.
He is charged with workers' compensation fraud in violation of 21 O.S. � 1663. Under this statute, workers' comp fraud is a felony that carries a maximum sentence of 7 years in prison and a fine of up to $10,000.
