When is disability fraud okay? Evidence suggests David Disney’s actions were justified. Erin Kelly weighs in and offers a fresh perspective.
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“You must not lose faith in humanity. Humanity is an ocean; if a few drops of the ocean are dirty, the ocean [itself] does not become dirty.”
Many would likely apply Mahatma Gandhi’s words and principles to those who have lied, cheated or stolen something at one point or another. However, few are willing to apply these words to perhaps murderers or those who commit crime of any form. With an estimated 1.5 million people in prison nationwide as of late last year, even fewer are willing to admit that those individuals deserve a chance to wipe the slate clean.
By the same token, crime in its purest form knows no prejudice. In fact, a study conducted in 2011 showed that individuals with disabilities are more likely to serve time in prison due to a crime than those who are able-bodied.
The number of disabled criminals is currently on the rise, and as this recent article implies, people are paying a hefty price.
I’m not familiar enough with the legal side of disabilities to judge the reason(s) why David Disney did what he did, nor do I have the right to.
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David Disney, a former private detective in Hunterdon County, New Jersey, was arrested for disability fraud earlier this month. He has been sentenced to 23 months in prison in addition to being ordered to pay a $5,000 fine, as well as $144,000 in restitution to the Social Security Administration, per New Jersey law.
Disney’s financial woes don’t stop there, however. The article also states that between 2003 and 2008, he reportedly collected over $144,000 in minority disability payments he wasn’t entitled to receive.
In fact, Disney had been receiving disability benefits since 2003 while secretly performing surveillance for his clients at D.M. Disney & Associates, for which he served as proprietor and owner. He also made numerous appearances on The Maury Povich Show and applied to renew his license as a private detective without the government knowing he was not disabled. Moreover, he claims he was unaware that he wasn’t entitled to collect benefits at all.
However, there’s a piece of this story that I find interesting, and perhaps deserves a bit of empathy.
The original report goes on to mention that Disney initially applied to receive disability insurance because of a head injury he suffered in 2003. In his application, he reportedly stated that, at the time of the accident, he was unable to hold a job, manage his finances and care for his family. While the report never mentions whether or not he fully recovered from the injury, it can be implied that he at least reached a point where he didn’t need financial assistance.
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I think a huge question of ethics comes into play here. If you look at this man’s story from a lawyer or even a federal judge’s perspective, then yes—he got the punishment he deserved. However, if you look at this from a humanitarian, or perhaps a social justice advocate’s perspective, Disney was justified in his actions but made some crucial mistakes.
That said, I think it would be difficult for an onlooker like myself to further investigate, speculate or insert themselves into this situation. I’m not familiar enough with the legal side of disabilities to judge the reason(s) why David Disney did what he did, nor do I have the right to.
If I judged this man—or anyone—who was flawed in some way, it wouldn’t make me better than anybody else in this world. If anything, I think it would make me look at myself in the mirror and question whether or not I’m the kind of person I was raised to be.
I think David’s story, like so many others’, speaks to Gandhi’s quote about humanity. It awakens the soul in a way that makes you think about the things in your own life, and the people you’ve judged so quickly, you don’t remember what you said or thought.Humanity is indeed an ocean. It’s inevitable that we’ll find some dirty water along the way, but that doesn’t mean we have the right to spread it around or even drink it. It means that regardless of how murky or muddy it is, we need to recognize that we sometimes contribute to it—but we also need to have faith that it will one day be clean again.
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@ Erin, thank you for the article but I have to tell ya that it bothers me that you question your right to “judge” another for his indiscretions. Why wouldn’t you have the right? My last position in the field of medical case management was one that my division managed the medical aspects of the person and had a sister division that dealt with the liability of the person(s) and their businesses. Together, we determined liability and accordingly a settlement. Full disability means that there is no way they can perform any job and accordingly the settlements would be based… Read more »
I just read the writer has cerebral palsy and I apologize if I sounded harsh. I didn’t mean to do that. I have a disability myself and I’m sensitive to certain issues. There is probably about 15% fraud in disability claims, and authorities should go after those people and leave the legitimate cases alone.
David, I think that the 15% may be a low number. My last corporate job was with a division of a company where we did medical case management on General Liability and workers comp cases, which by the way is not monitored on the same level as general medical cases as in medical insurance claims. I remember a man who had a workers comp case where he was injured on the job and his injuries pertained to his left leg. He was wearing a brace for his injury. The regular nurse case manager was on vacation and I had a… Read more »
Pardon me for saying this, but the above article is one of the most ridiculous I’ve read in a long while. Of course he’s guilty of fraud, since a disabled person has a duty to report any work performed while on disability. Since Disney “secretly” worked and didn’t report it to Social Security, he broke the law. Speaking of the law, I would question the validity of that study which said disabled people are more likely to have served time in prison. Who financed this study, Sean Hannity? Sounds fake to me.
Thanks, Mark!
You hit the nail on the head : “That said, I think it would be difficult for an onlooker like myself to further investigate, speculate or insert themselves into this situation. I’m not familiar enough with the legal side of disabilities to judge the reason(s) why David Disney did what he did, nor do I have the right to.” Maybe he did indeed need the disability payments back in 2003. We don’t know if by 2004, he was healthy enough to go back to work, or if the government ever bothered to check, or make him re-apply for payments. (Honestly,… Read more »