Lemapu Dorothy Seinafo, 56, was receiving a lifetime pension for a permanent workplace injury until a Washington State Department of Labor & Industries (L&I) investigation found she was working but hiding her employment from L&I.

“We will always safeguard workers’ compensation funds for workers who really need them,” said Steve Reinmuth, assistant director of L&I’s Customer Service, Compliance, and Public Safety division. “This single investigation, and legal action by the Attorney General, saved more than a million dollars that can now be used to help meet the needs of legitimately injured Washington workers.”

Seinafo pleaded guilty Oct. 6 in King County Superior Court to a single count of third-degree theft, a gross misdemeanor. Judge Avril Rothrock ordered her to repay the workers’ compensation fund the nearly $48,000 in pension payments she received after she secretly returned to work in January 2022.

By ending Seinafo’s fraudulent receipt of a pension, L&I calculates it avoided paying her $1.3 million over the course of her expected lifetime.

Data tips off investigators
Seinafo received a lifetime pension in 2018 after she was injured pulling materials from a jobsite container at a supply company. She first received medical care for thoracic and shoulder injuries, worker retraining benefits, and payments to replace part of her lost wages.

But doctors later determined her injuries were serious enough that she could no longer work in the job she held when injured, nor be trained for another vocation. In that situation, workers may be granted a lifetime pension but must tell L&I if they ever work.

The department began investigating Seinafo in 2022 after a routine comparison of workers’ compensation records with employment rolls from the Washington State Employment Security Department. The data showed Seinafo was earning wages, despite indicating on her annual L&I pension form that she was not working.

Investigators confirmed Seinafo worked at a medical transport company for all of 2022 through February 2023. She was earning over $40,000 a year in her job. In an interview with investigators, she admitted she was working and should have told the agency.

The Washington State Attorney General’s Office prosecuted the case based on L&I’s investigation.

Report workers’ comp fraud
If you see or suspect someone is cheating the workers’ compensation system, contact L&I's Fraud division (Lni.wa.gov/Fraud) or call 1-888-811-5974.