Canadian woman loses benifits over facebook photo!

Damn that is LAME! I suffer from depression, clinical anxiety, and panic disorder, and I smile all the time!

Hmmm... I'm thinking about "who ever does post a depressed photo anyway?" I doubt that's the only reason she was taken out of the benefit, I don't think the government would just take it out just because of one photo. Perhaps the news just focused too much on the photo itself and not the underlying reasons why her benefits were revoked. But let's just say that there's nothing else - it's just the photo that lead to her benefits being revoked. That just means that their government are in so much trouble (financially) that they'd be glad if someone wasn't on the benefits list anymore. Tsk tsk. But still, there could be ground though, perhaps she's been doing facebook a lot that perhaps the agent thought that if she could spend so much time with facebook then she could go to work instead.

oh yes i know what you mean, sometimes what people are trying to project are not the true person who they really are inside...it is sad that such happened. maybe the agent should have re-evaluated before decision was made.

Yes I agree with all the points you raised .It would seem to me that this company as is the case with many other companies seem to be always looking for ways to stiff its employees of any benefits that they can get .I mean to take away the benefit from an employee for smiling how low can you get. I mean this lady was diagnosed with depression and this must be someone that they have known her to be trustworthy enough to send her leave so why now are they doubting her and the medical expertise.They should be happy that the woman is recovering and will be back to work healthy and ready to start working soon

Yes, you are right. Photos should not be the only basis of judging whether the person is happy or not. Who knows that happy picture of her was taken long time ago or was taken during the time she was happy. It is true also that we should be careful what photos to post in our social networking site accounts because other people may take it against us. Right now I carefully choose what pictures to be posted in my Facebook and Twitter accounts.

well,I'm not saying anything against the poor woman, but dr. phil did an episode on the facebook deal and the myspace and employers are looking for that more and more to see how people act in there every day normal life. Whether she realizes it or not depending on when the picture was taken they may actually have a case. I know it sucks. but I'm trying to get through on medical with families first and i've been to doctors and been to other stuff too and if they found pics of me living it up on the internet during the time I was trying to get medical it wouldn't look good for me. Lawyers are trying to do anything they can to make the defense look bad and she shouldn't have put the pictures up if she was in acase that was in court because they can dig up any information that they want t o.

That is just terrible and how do they know how old the Picture is, how do they know it was not taken before her Illness, and just because someone suffers this Illness does not mean that they have to have an unhappy Face, I suffer with depressions and I am on strong Meds for it but it does not mean I have a miserable Face at all times, the Meds Help and also the Depression hits when you least expect this Face Book is turning into a Night mare for some People and I do hope this Woman will fight this

That is nuts!!! My step-daughter has bi-polar, my hhusband has PTSD, I have Aspergers, and Seasonal Affective Disorder. All four disorders are not chronic 24-hour-a-day sadness, unless they are extreme cases, and bi-polar is what it says, bi-polar. Ever been on that roller coaster? From MANIC to DEPRESSIVE, and everything in between. My husband hasn't gone off and killed a civillian with his PTSD, but there are issues. My step-daughter has her bi-polar pretty much under control, but there are still things to work on. Same with my SAD and Aspergers. So, one picture? That's jumping to conclusions!!

Well depression is a long term, unprovable, and relatively benign disorder. The company shouldn't have had to pay for her on leave for that whole year. She was probably faking it or milking it anyways. If she was so delibitated she wouldnt have been going to Chippendales stripper shows... She was cheating the system.

It really is a case of he says, she says. But the company has already taken away her benefits. The last paragraph just don't reflect what they are saying vs what they are doing. [b]Blanchard told the CBC that on her doctor's advice, she tried to have fun, including nights out at her local bar with friends and short getaways to sun destinations, as a way to forget her problems. Manulife wouldn't comment on Blanchard's case, but did say they would not deny or terminate a claim solely based on information published on Web sites such as Facebook.[/b]

I think this is ridiculous. They went searching for any reason not to continue her benefits. I shame on them. Just more compassion lost. I hope she is able to re instate her benefits.

I'm honestly starting to think that Facebook and other social networking sites that are publicly accessible like that are evil. People break up over things posted on Facebook...read too much into relationship statuses. Or post photos that you wouldn't want your mother to see. Things that can hurt a career. Facebook shouldn't be used to evaluate Any-one's everyday life or even personality - that being said i know there's a few people that post every 15 minutes (attention Wh0res!) what they are doing. I gotta say i really dont need a by play on whats going on in someones life every 15 minutes...a comment here or there when something good or bad happens yup but "getting ready for work....leaving for work....i don't know why i went to work...saw a deer going to work" is a little irritating. I think that when viewing Facebook for assessments its NOT ethical and at best they should be doing re-evaluations because people can fake happy on line VERY easily.

I read this news from yahoo. I think this girls should fight for her lost benefits because what happen to her is unjust. The agent should investigate if when that photo being uploaded. Even that photo is upload right after that woman leave because of depression this doesn't mean that photo is taken fresh... How people that thinking so narrow. Their allegation to that woman is irrelevant and not convincing if that really the reason why they suspend the benefits of this woman...Their evidence is weak and convincing enough to apply their rules and regulation regarding that matter...have a nice day!

The company just wants to get out of the responsibility. They are obviously finding reasons not to grant the woman the benefits. I also think a single picture is not enough of an evidence. A picture can tell so many things but people will never know the story behind it, what's really happening can't entirely get captured on a single picture. I think it's the doctor who has to prove if the woman is still sick or not.

this news sure sucks!!!we dont have these benefits in our country except in very rare cases but most of the insurance agents are on the lookout for some excuses so that they can avoid paying the benefits.

OMG suffering from depression doesnt mean you are depressed 24/7 and the docs that i saw all encouraged me to go out and be social and try to forget, its part of therapy. And i was so good at hiding my depression that for years no one knew...and i never admitted even to myself...and when i did finally tell people everyone basically said the same thing...they would of never guessed. I cant believe they dropped her over a picture on Facebook...what would they say if it had been photoshoped???

No they should not take her benefits away just from a picture on facebook. She should be re-evaluated she said it was her doctor that told her to go places and try having fun to forget her problems. These are just agent and just by looking at pictures they can not tell anything.

these agents should be lynched for diagnosing a person from a photograph, and another thing is that this agent is just that an agent not a shrink that is why i hate dealing with insurance agencies and the like. the most irritating thing about it is that they took the agents claims over the woman with the illness. this is a most despicable practice. this i have to say is absolute BULLSH!T!