Employer surveillance shows workers’ comp recipient competing in barrel racing on horseback
A New Brunswick worker who participated in 10 barrel horse racing events while collecting workers' compensation has won her appeal after a tribunal found she did not misrepresent her injuries.
The Workers' Compensation Appeals Tribunal accepted the appeal on Feb. 9, 2026, eliminating a $4,485 overpayment and ordering the claim reopened. The case turned on whether therapeutic horseback riding recommended by medical providers equated to work capacity.
The worker injured her neck, back, right hand and wrist on March 11, 2024, when a vehicle hood fell during a pre-trip inspection. The Workplace Health, Safety and Compensation Commission accepted the claim and provided loss of earnings benefits while she underwent physiotherapy and multidisciplinary rehabilitation.
When surveillance contradicts medical reports
In September 2024, the employer provided video footage showing the worker participating in barrel racing competitions on July 13-14 and Sept. 7-8, 2024. An investigation report documented her involvement in multiple races and noted discrepancies between her reported abilities and observed performance.
The investigation concluded: "The fact that the claimant is involved in barrel racing during this pass summer is clearly contradictory to what she has been telling her therapists."
An occupational therapist reviewed the surveillance and found the worker demonstrated higher function during the races than during clinical assessments. The Commission determined the worker had misrepresented her disability level and terminated benefits retroactive to July 13, 2024, the date of her first race. It declared an overpayment existed due to fraud.
Medical providers defend therapeutic riding
The worker's treating physiotherapist countered that horseback riding was part of the rehabilitation plan. In an April 2025 letter, the physiotherapist wrote: "As riding horses were very important to her throughout her life, it was encouraged for her to be engaged with her horses, especially since she had significant emotional strain, to help with calming and joyous feelings."
The physiotherapist added: "I have not seen any signs of her misrepresenting the severity of her condition. A therapist cannot rate a client's pain experience as it is their own."
Multidisciplinary rehabilitation reports from August and September 2024 documented ongoing limitations. The Aug. 21, 2024 assessment recommended a gradual return to work "could be recommended in September" with modified hours. A Sept. 17, 2024 report found the worker unable to meet job demands for 12 of 19 essential tasks.
Tribunal reverses fraud finding
Chairperson Bernard LeBlanc found the medical evidence more persuasive than the surveillance footage. He wrote: "Based on the preponderance of evidence, I find it more likely than not, that the appellant did not make false representation of the extent of her injury by accident during the period of time that the overpayment was created for the period of July 13, 2024 to September 2, 2024."
The worker testified she participated in limited barrel racing with pain and restrictions, requiring assistance to dismount. She wrote: "My horses are the reason I didn't lose my mind. I was in mild depression and I did call the help line to talk."
The tribunal noted she successfully returned to work Oct. 25, 2024, but remained under medical care, undergoing cervical nerve root injections in April 2025 for chronic neck pain. The decision directed the Commission to eliminate the overpayment, reopen the claim as of Oct. 25, 2024, and reinstate benefits.
See 20250934 (Re)
