Can a Social Media Post Affect My Case?

Social media accounts like Meta, Instagram, LinkedIn, TikTok, and “X” are ubiquitous today. Millions of Americans have at least one such account.

Although social media can be a great way to share experiences, photos, and videos with family, friends, and the public, if you are the plaintiff in a personal injury lawsuit or are making a workers’ compensation claim in North Carolina, your social media posts can end up hurting your case.

At the Price Petho & Associates law firm, we represent North Carolina clients with personal injury and workers’ compensation claims. In this post, we examine how your social media posts can inadvertently harm your case in personal injury or workers’ comp settlement negotiations, or in a personal injury court case. We also show you some ways to reduce these risks.

If you have a personal injury or workers’ compensation claim in North Carolina, you can call our Charlotte offices at any time to speak with one of our experienced attorneys and to arrange for a free case evaluation.

Social media posts may be admissible as evidence against you

You may already be familiar with how police, when they are making an arrest, will inform the suspect of that person’s Miranda rights under the U.S. Constitution. Although Miranda rights apply only to criminal cases, the same principle — that anything you say can be used against you — is good advice for civil claims too.

When it comes to social media posts, you can expect that defense attorneys and insurance claims adjusters will be scouring the Internet to find anything you have posted online and to look for ways to use against you what you have written.

They may attempt to find your social media accounts and will scrutinize every post you have made on all of them. They are looking for anything that can be taken as a statement by you against your own interest in your case, and will seek to introduce what they find as evidence against you.

For example, in a personal injury or workers’ comp claim, any photos or status updates that show you engaging in physical activities or enjoying social events can be interpreted as evidence that your injuries are not as severe as you have claimed.

You may not be trying to “game the system” or brag about pulling a fast one, but even an online post you have made with innocent intentions can still be construed in a way that makes you look bad and can harm your case. So, it is important to understand the need to always be cautious about what you say on social media.

Examples of how social media posts can hurt your claim

The two main dangers of careless social media posting are that you could inadvertently contradict your own testimony about the nature of your injury or medical condition, or show what you are capable of physically doing when your claim is based on being physically disabled.

Here are some of the ways that people with personal injury or workers’ compensation claims can damage their own interests through careless social media posting:

• Posts in which you are engaged in behaviors like alcohol or drug consumption, or engaging in high-risk activities that can suggest you played a role in causing the harm you have suffered.
• In a workers’ compensation claim, posts in which you complain about your job, your employer, or your coworkers.
• Showing yourself engaging in active physical exertion when you are claiming to be unable to work or engage in daily life activities.
• Posting about travel plans when you are claiming to be disabled because of a personal injury or work accident.
• Discussing the terms of a settlement agreement when it contains confidentiality provisions.

Your text messages and emails are not always private

In addition to your social media posts, in some cases, the defendant in a personal injury claim or your employer or its insurer in a workers’ comp claim can seek disclosure of your email or text communications.

Even if your posts are private, courts can sometimes require you to produce them during discovery. Like with social media posts, if these messages serve to contradict your claims, they can be used against you.

How to avoid the social media trap in your personal injury case

There are several ways you can minimize your risk of making an accidental statement against your own claim interest on social media. We cover them below.

Limit your social media activity

An old saying goes, “Nobody ever got into trouble for keeping his mouth shut.” This is true when it comes to social media posting while you are pursuing an injury claim in court or through workers’ compensation. If you stay off social media, then there is no way you can make a claim or show an activity that can jeopardize your claim.

If you can do so, stay off your social media accounts until your claim is resolved. However, do not delete any posts you’ve made, as this may be seen as destruction of potential evidence.

Do not share admissions of fault

Never make any statement on social media, or anywhere else, that can be taken to be an admission of fault leading to your accident or injury.

Especially in a North Carolina personal injury claim, if you post anything online that suggests you were partly to blame for your injury, then the legal doctrine of pure contributory negligence in this state could even result in precluding your ability to pursue your claim in court.

Be careful with new friend requests and follows

Sometimes, a crafty defense attorney, private investigator, or insurance adjuster may attempt to join your online friends on one or more of your social media accounts. This person may pretend to be an old acquaintance or a past schoolmate, or someone else who seems familiar to you and has a fake profile to match.

Like the advice to stay off social media until your claim is resolved, if you receive any kind of social media friend request you are not familiar with, put off accepting it or decline it.

Adjust your privacy settings

Many social media accounts allow you to restrict viewer and search engine access to your account to people you give prior approval to. This is a good idea while your case is in progress to help limit the ability of people seeking to use your social media postings against you.

Avoid discussing or sharing photos or videos related to your case

Aside from settlement confidentiality considerations, if you discuss your claim on social media, then you may unknowingly make a statement that can be used against you.

• Avoid discussing your health, mood, attitude, or mobility.
• Do not share photos or videos of activities you engage in, even if you are a spectator to them.
• Do not share information about your discussions with your attorney about your case. This could risk the attorney-client privilege you have with your attorney communications.

Inform your friends and family to avoid discussing your case

Defense lawyers, insurance adjusters, and private detectives may not confine their attempts to glean damaging information about your case from your social media accounts. They can also try to do the same by monitoring the accounts of people you know.

Request your family members, friends, and anyone else you know who is familiar with your claim not to discuss it online.

The top five things to remember about legal claims and social media

The value of your North Carolina personal injury or workers’ compensation claim can be negatively affected by unguarded statements you make on your social media accounts, or by others you know on their accounts.

People who have an interest in minimizing or even denying your claims for recovery are social media savvy. You can expect them to monitor your social media accounts and those of people you know, looking for anything they can use against you.

The best advice we can give to reduce your risk of accidentally saying something against your own interest online we have given above, but to emphasize the five most important points:

1. If possible, stay off your social media accounts until your claims have been resolved.
2. Never make any statement, anywhere or at any time, accepting or implying any blame on your part for what happened to cause your injury or other harm.
3. Tell everyone you know not to discuss your case with anyone else on their social media accounts.
4. Never discuss online what you have talked about with your personal injury or workers’ compensation lawyer.
5. Do not discuss online the terms of any claim settlement offer you receive, or any settlement you agree to.

Do you have a North Carolina personal injury or workers’ compensation claim?

At Price Petho & Associates, we have attorneys who are highly experienced with personal injury and North Carolina workers’ compensation claims. If you call us as soon as possible after your personal injury or work-related claim, we can guide you on steps to preserve your rights and pursue the maximum compensation available under the law.

Call us today to speak with one of our personal injury or workers’ comp attorneys. You can also use our online contact form to ask a question or set up a free consultation with us.

Before you discuss your claim with anyone else, especially online, call us first. It could be critical to preserving the value of your claim.