Woman Pleads Guilty to WC Charges

Marsha Arlene Johnson, 47, of Inglewood, Calif., pleaded guilty to a felony charge of workers’ compensation insurance fraud. Johnson was ordered to pay full restitution in the amount of $28,861.77, and received five years’ probation and 200 hours of community service. Johnson changed her plea prior to trial, from not guilty to guilty.

Johnson was employed as a nurse’s technician at Torrance Memorial Medical Center where she filed a fraudulent workers’ comp claim in Dec. 1999 that alleged a work-related back injury. After an internal investigation, Torrance Memorial’s claims administrator, Torrance-based Keenan & Associates, denied the claim in the first quarter of 2000 and referred the case over to the CDI for formal investigation. The CDI investigation revealed that Johnson’s claim was fraudulent and the investigators promptly obtained a warrant for her arrest. Johnson was arrested on Sept.10, 2002.

According to Keenan & Associates, Johnson’s fraudulent claim resulted in a total loss to the employer and claims administrator—including medical payments, investigative and administrative costs—of nearly $30,000.