State worker faked injuries, went kayaking in Caribbean, IG says … – Albany Times Union

A psychiatric center employee was arrested for allegedly collecting workers compensation for a back injury while he was on vacation, including taking a kayaking trip in the Caribbean, State Inspector General Catherine Leahy Scott announced on Monday.

Ryan Haley, 30, of Rome, is a security hospital treatment assistant at the Central New York Psychiatric Center in Marcy, Oneida County.

He was arrested on charges that he defrauded the workers compensation system and falsified documents to obtain time off and collect benefits. Investigators said Haley, while out of work, visited Puerto Rico and also worked in California with his girlfriend. He also faces unrelated charges of physically abusing a patient at the facility. All the charges are felonies, according to the Inspector Generals office.

An investigation by Leahy Scotts office found that on two occasions in 2016, Haley applied for workers compensation benefits by claiming an inability to work due to an October 2015 work-related back injury.

Haley received $2,286.05 in benefits while in Puerto Rico and $407.80 in benefits while in California, investigators said.

This defendant is accused of a contemptuous fraud in which he feigns being too injured to work while paddling a kayak on a Caribbean retreat, Leahy Scott said. Moreover, with utter disregard for the critical responsibilities of his job, he allegedly attacked one of the very patients for whom he was meant to care. I will continue to dedicate the resources of my office to protect the benefits meant to assist honest, hard-working New Yorkers.

Haley was arraigned on the charges and released by a judge while his cases are pending.

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State worker faked injuries, went kayaking in Caribbean, IG says ... - Albany Times Union