WAHKIAKUM COUNTY, Wash. — A former meter reader who said she was traumatized by a workplace dog attack and claimed she fainted at the sight of dogs has pleaded guilty in a workers’ compensation fraud case, according to a release from the Washington State Department of Labor & Industries (L&I) published on Wednesday.
The L&I investigation found Linda Lashell Jordan, 56, of Grays River in Wahkiakum County, had six dogs, including some she was fostering or advertising for sale, at her southwest Washington home. At the same time, she was insisting her PTSD and dog phobia were so severe she could not work, said L&I.
According to L&I, Jordan pleaded guilty Monday to second-degree attempted theft of state workers’ compensation benefits, a gross misdemeanor offense. Wahkiakum County Superior Court Judge Heidi Heywood sentenced Jordan to 30 days of jail but allowed her to serve it under electronic home monitoring.
L&I’s investigation determined Jordan took over $162,000 in wage-replacement payments from September 2016 to October 2019.
The Washington Attorney General’s Office prosecuted the case.
“This is clearly a case of someone abusing the workers’ comp system,” said Celeste Monahan, assistant director of L&I’s Fraud Prevention and Labor Standards division.
According to L&I, Jordan worked as a meter reader for the Pacific County Public Utility District when a dog bit her right arm in 2007, causing serious injury. Over the next several years, she filed injury claims to L&I, maintaining she couldn’t risk working or even driving a vehicle because she might encounter a dog.
Her medical providers confirmed she couldn’t work due to her on-the-job injuries, said L&I.
According to L&I, they started investigating Jordan in 2018 when a claim manager suspected something was amiss in her case. An L&I investigator visited Jordan at her home, by pretending to be interested in buying bricks she’d advertised for sale. He found she had three French bulldogs and three boxers. Jordan told the investigator she and her husband had been rescuing and fostering boxers for 30 years, and warned him that one of the dogs might bite, charging papers said. She let him take a photo of her with two of the boxers.
The investigation also revealed that Jordan advertised dogs for sale on Facebook using her maiden name, an alias, and her husband’s name. Though her healthcare provider advised her not to drive in case she saw a dog and fainted, investigators saw Jordan driving nine times in 2018 and 2019.
In August 2019, the case investigator showed photos and other surveillance materials to a psychiatrist who once treated Jordan, said L&I. The psychiatrist changed Jordan’s previous diagnosis from post-traumatic stress disorder and dog phobia to malingering—pretending an illness or injury to avoid work—charging papers said. He found that Jordan was capable of returning to work as a meter reader as early as September 2016.
L&I is seeking repayment from Jordan.
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