Fraud, I say!! FRAUD!!!

The idea of fraud has been on my mind today. Possibly that has to do with certian work related projects and discussions I'm involved with, but more likely because I have a criminal mind and just can't stop seeing the angles.

A co-worker burned herself in the cafeteria today. The soup was incredibly hot and she suffered a second degree burn because of it. She isn't going to do anything beyond her visit to the office nurse, but someone with a devious mind would see this as an opportunity to take it a step further. Maybe I decide to go down there and burn myself too. That would be the second incident of their soup causing damage. One person can be ignored, but as soon as someone can say "Others are being burned too!" the situation changes. It is a chance to benefit off something that should just be endured as part of life.

Not always do we have to endure injustice though. I'm sure you have heard about the lady that was burned by spilling MacDonald's coffee on herself in her car. I have read the court documents from the case and it is much more than what most people think. A lot of people who bring that up think that it was just some bratty lady that got mad because she spilled something on her dress. Oh no, my friend. That lady was seriously damaged by this incident. The facts of the case, which caused a jury of six men and six women to find McDonald's coffee was unreasonably dangerous and had caused enough human misery and suffering that no one should be made to suffer exposure to such excessively hot coffee again, will shock and amaze you:

McFact No. 1: For years, McDonald's had known they had a problem with the way they make their coffee - that their coffee was served much hotter (at least 20 degrees more so) than at other restaurants.

McFact No. 2: McDonald's knew its coffee sometimes caused serious injuries - more than 700 incidents of scalding coffee burns in the past decade have been settled by the Corporation - and yet they never so much as consulted a burn expert regarding the issue.

McFact No. 3: The woman involved in this infamous case suffered very serious injuries - third degree burns on her groin, thighs and buttocks that required skin grafts and a seven-day hospital stay.

McFact No. 4: The woman, an 81-year old former department store clerk who had never before filed suit against anyone, said she wouldn't have brought the lawsuit against McDonald's had the Corporation not dismissed her request for compensation for medical bills.

McFact No. 5: A McDonald's quality assurance manager testified in the case that the Corporation was aware of the risk of serving dangerously hot coffee and had no plans to either turn down the heat or to post warning about the possibility of severe burns, even though most customers wouldn't think it was possible.

McFact No. 6: After careful deliberation, the jury found McDonald's was liable because the facts were overwhelmingly against the company. When it came to the punitive damages, the jury found that McDonald's had engaged in willful, reckless, malicious, or wanton conduct, and rendered a punitive damage award of 2.7 million dollars. (The equivalent of just two days of coffee sales, McDonalds Corporation generates revenues in excess of 1.3 million dollars daily from the sale of its coffee, selling 1 billion cups each year.)

McFact No. 7: On appeal, a judge lowered the award to $480,000, a fact not widely publicized in the media.

McFact No. 8: A report in Liability Week, September 29, 1997, indicated that Kathleen Gilliam, 73, suffered first degree burns when a cup of coffee spilled onto her lap. Reports also indicate that McDonald's consistently keeps its coffee at 185 degrees, still approximately 20 degrees hotter than at other restaurants. Third degree burns occur at this temperature in just two to seven seconds, requiring skin grafting, debridement and whirlpool treatments that cost tens of thousands of dollars and result in permanent disfigurement, extreme pain and disability to the victims for many months, and in some cases, years.

So not every lawsuit is the attempt of some morally corrupt individual trying to take advantage of someone. However, with that being said there is a lot of danger out there to watch out for. Here is some information from a lawfirm in Houston, Texas regarding insurance fraud and how people perpetrate it. This is something that can impact every single one of us, so listen up.

Causing Accidents - Methods Used

“Swoop and squat” a/k/a “Squat and stoop”

Variation 1: Two cars act in concert to cause an accident, usually involving a truck. The first car slams on its brakes abruptly while driving in front of the truck while the other car is traveling beside the truck, forcing the truck into a collision.

Variation 2: Two cars act in concert to cause an accident, usually involving a truck on a freeway or multi-lane road. While the first car travels in front of the truck, the second car cuts off the first car causing the first car to slam on its brakes to avoid the second car. As a result, the truck rear-ends the first car and is also a witness to the phantom car that caused the first car to stop abruptly.

Variation 3: One car quickly cuts in front of an insured driver and brakes, causing a rear-end collision. In March of 2006, the Los Angeles Times reported that this type of fraud may again be on the rise in the Miami and Los Angeles areas.

Start and Stop – From a stop, a vehicle directly in front starts to move forward and then stops abruptly for no reason causing a rear-end collision.

T-Bone – While an insured driver is crossing an intersection, a driver traveling on the cross street accelerates to make contact with the company vehicle. The assumption is that a company vehicle is insured by the corporation and has much deeper pockets than a typical driver on the road.

Waving in/on a/k/a Drive down– While the insured vehicle is attempting to merge/turn/etc. another car waives the insured on, then intentionally causes an accident and claims no indication was given to the insured vehicle to proceed.

Non-existent accidents – An individual takes down all of the pertinent information of a vehicle traveling on a road at particular time and then reports to the company owning the vehicle that this vehicle forced him off of the road. The individual produces a vehicle with damage and makes a claim.

A particular individual using this scheme was indicted on 24 felony charges and 76 misdemeanors for claims totaling over $70,000

Side Swipes – at a multiple lane turn area, a vehicle purposely side swipes an insured driver that has turned wide. While the liability may be legitimate if a driver has traveled outside of the proper lane of travel, the damages should be carefully scrutinized. In any instance where it appears that a criminal may have purposely failed to avoid or caused an accident.

Paranoid yet? You're looking around you while you are driving and thinking everybody is out to get you now, aren't you. Well that is because THEY ARE!! We are surrounded by fraudsters just trying to get into our pockets and into our insurance companies. With the economy turning down the way it is, people are just going to get more desperate for money. Schemes like those mentioned are the acts of desperate and morally deprived people. Don't think that just because your brain doesn't work this way that nobody else's does. My brain works this way, but I was blessed with a value system that doesn't allow me to act on it. I can see the angles, but I never act on them. I just point them out. Watch your backs, everybody.