On October 23, 2012 the Iowa Workers Compensation Commissioner filed a impactful Ruling on a Petition for Declaratory Order leveling the playing field for injured workers pertaining to surveillance videos. Before the decision insurance companies had free rein to film injured workers without knowledge. When cases were filed the surveillance footage would not be provided to the injured worker until after the injured worker had a deposition. Footage provided would then often be edited to the benefit of the insurance carrier and to the harm of the injured worker. Unsurprisingly, footage which showed the true extent of injury would often be omitted by the insurance carriers and not provided.

The recent Ruling by the Workers Compensation Commissioner has changed this. The Commissioner ruled that under Iowa Code Section 85.27(2), th surveillance video and reports must be provided to the injured worker during the litigation discovery process. The insurance carriers can no longer surprise the injured worker at a deposition or afterwards with film that appears to conflict with testimony.

The Iowa Association of Justice’s Iowa Workers Compensation Core Group filed for the ruling and recognition goes to their outstanding effort. The Workers’ Compensation Commissioner’s decision is well reasoned and fulfills the agency’s obligation to protect the injured Iowa Worker.

With this new order the Beattie Law Firm will, from the outset and certainly before our clients are deposed, request surveillance videos. This will help us to prepare our clients for their depositions. One of the most important acts a lawyer can do is to properly and completely prepare clients for depositions. At the Beattie Law Firm the lawyers take great steps and time to review the client’s file and to prepare the client for deposition.

The above order regarding surveillance videos allows claimants to be placed on an even playing field when they are about to be deposed. Because surveillance videos are now discoverable before a deposition in workers compensation proceedings the Beattie Law Firmwill be even better equipped to prepare our clients for their critical depositions.