How many parents have said to children, “If you’re too sick for school, you’re too sick to go out and play.” Maybe the grown-up version of that should be, “If you’re too injured to work, you’re too injured to participate in a beauty pageant.”
Shawna Lynn Palmer, 22, of Riverside, CA, participated in the 2014 Miss Toyota Long Beach Grand Prix beauty contest. She didn’t win. But video of her participating in the contest is bringing her some notoriety – most likely not the type she wanted.
Palmer has been arrested on workers’ compensation insurance fraud because of that video.
She’d been collecting workers’ comp after breaking her toe while working as a clerk for Stater Brothers, a supermarket.
According to the California Insurance Commissioner’s Office, Palmer told doctors multiple times she couldn’t put any weight on her foot, couldn’t move it in any direction and couldn’t wear a shoe for any length of time.
The Commissioner’s Office says Palmer participated in at least two beauty contests wearing high heels and walking without any signs of discomfort while collecting comp.
Authorities didn’t have to look too hard for the video. It was posted on YouTube.
“She certainly possessed beauty and bravado,” said Byron Tucker, Deputy Insurance Commissioner, “but not too much brains.”
Ouch.
Interestingly, hearing about her participation in the pageants wasn’t the first thing that made officials suspicious of Palmer. It was the length of time she was taking off from work to recuperate from a broken toe, all the while collecting workers’ comp.
If convicted, Palmer faces up to one year in county jail, three year of probation and restitution of $24,000.
Doctors gave Palmer crutches and orthopedic shoes to wear until her foot got better.
Hm. Were those high heels she wore orthopedic?
