Prosecutors: 'Disabled' S.F. worker ran trail race

San Francisco Chronicle ^ | 3/22/11 | Bob Egelko, Chronicle Staff Writer

[SmithL]

SAN FRANCISCO -- Emily Hegner competed in a seven-mile Muir Woods run in April 208 that included a chunk of the grueling Dipsea trail. She did all right, finishing 12th out of 23 women in her age group.

But three months earlier, according to the state Department of Insurance, Hegner was classified as disabled and was collecting workers' compensation benefits because of injuries she reported suffering in a slip-and-fall accident as a San Francisco hospital worker.

And nearly five months after the race, the department said, she told an orthopedic surgeon she was in pain most of the time, couldn't return to work and needed a cane to walk or climb stairs.

[volunbeer]

They don’t care. I could tell more stories about some of the crap we saw but it was back in 1999. I doubt the VHS tape even exists in the case file and the statute of limitations is only 5 years.

He did go to prison for dealing crack.

It has not changed since. That was my point. Fraud accounts for a huge portion of entitlements. Always has and always will. It is very frustrating. I feel so bad for my children because they will pay the most for this madness.

[boop]

We always watch the “disabled”, can’t walk schemers as they leave our office. Funny how they get miraculously healed walking to their cars. They don’t need crutches or walkers, just that fresh air outside the clinic seems to cure the need for such equipment.

[upsdriver]

The solution to this fraud is to get rid of Worker’s Compensation. If someone wants to insure themselves against disability, let them purchase their own.

[HiTech RedNeck]

One of the more brazen scammers. A malingerer I could kind of understand, but this?

[HiTech RedNeck]

I wonder if he partook as well as selling... oh wait that’s meth that makes you seem superhuman for a little while, till you burn out like a roman candle in a wildfire.

[dennisw]

Emily Hegner....her only crime is she got ratted out. She is just the tip of the tip of the iceberg

[paddles]

“Mein Fuhrer...I’m walking!”

[redheadtoo]

I doubt the VHS tape even exists in the case file and the statute of limitations is only 5 years.

I agree it's too late for this case. But the next time you have proof, and the authorities don't care, go to the internet. We're no longer helpless when our public servants won't do their jobs.