He certified he could work full-time – while claiming he couldn't work at all
An Alabama court has denied total disability benefits to an injured worker who continued finding and holding jobs for years after his workplace accident.
The decision, handed down on February 27, 2026 by the Alabama Court of Civil Appeals, carries a straightforward message for HR professionals managing workers' compensation claims: what an injured employee actually does after getting hurt matters just as much as what they say about their condition.
The case centered on Wesley Dean, a brick mason employed by BISCO Refractories, Inc., who was seriously injured on the job in February 2019 when a piece of equipment knocked him off a platform, sending him 12 to 14 feet to the ground. He fractured his lower spine and his left heel. It was, by any measure, a severe accident.
What followed, however, told a more complicated story. Shortly after the accident, Dean returned to work in a sedentary office capacity. After reaching maximum medical improvement in May 2019, he resumed working as a brick mason. During periods of no work, he applied for unemployment benefits five times, each time certifying that he was physically able to work full-time in his trade. In November 2021, he applied for a job at Walmart as an order filler – a physically demanding role requiring bending, twisting, lifting up to 60 pounds, and extended periods of standing and walking – and confirmed he could meet all its requirements. He...
Kenneth Scott Miller, 48, is charged with a felony count of making a false report to law enforcement. He was released from the Escambia County Jail on a $500 bond. According to an Escambia County ...