A Southwest Washington woman has pleaded guilty to workers’ compensation fraud after investigations say she owned, fostered and sold dogs despite claiming that trauma from an on-the-job dog attack left her unable to work.
Linda Lashell Jordan, 56, pleaded guilty Monday in Wahkiakum County Superior Court to second-degree attempted theft of state workers’ compensation benefits, which is a gross misdemeanor. A judge sentenced her to 30 days of electronic home confinement.
The Washington State Department of Labor & Industries said Jordan took more than $162,000 in wage-replacement payments from September 2016 to October 2019.
She claimed she could no longer work as a meter reader for the Pacific County Public Utility District after a dog bit her arm in 2007. She suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder from the incident, she said, and couldn’t risk working or driving a vehicle because she might encounter a dog, according to a Labor & Industries news release.
The agency began investigating Jordan’s claims in 2018. An investigator went to her house under the pretense of buying bricks she’d advertised for sale, and he found she had six dogs with her. The investigator said Jordan did not appear to be scared of the dogs, the department said.
The investigator said Jordan told him about how she and her husband had been fostering and rescuing dogs for 30 years and that one of her dogs might bite. He also found she’d advertised dogs for sale on Facebook, according to the news release.
The investigator also saw Jordan driving numerous times, despite her medical provider’s advice that she avoid driving due to the risk of her encountering a dog, Labor & Industries said.
When the investigator showed the information to Jordan’s psychiatrist, the provider changed Jordan’s diagnosis from PTSD and dog phobia to malingering, or faking an illness to avoid work. The investigator said the psychiatrist determined she was capable of returning to work as early as the fall of 2016, according to the news release.
The department said it is seeking repayment from Jordan.
“This is clearly a case of someone abusing the workers’ comp system,” Celeste Monahan, assistant director of Labor & Industries’ Fraud Prevention and Labor Standards division, said in the news release. “It’s not a victimless crime. She was taking money from the fund that helps workers who really are seriously injured on the job and need support to heal and get back to work.”
