BUSINESS SERVICES & EMPLOYMENT MATTERS











































































































































                                                                    ©2006 Blue Heron Investigations, MN.  All rights reserved.  
BLUE HERON INVESTIGATIONS
Your "Minnesota Private Investigator"
SM
  • Licensed
  • Bonded
  • Insured
(763) 323 -7324 - Minneapolis             (651) 917-7324 - St. Paul
COVERT VIDEO CAMERA INSTALLATION


    It's been estimated that nearly 33% of all employees are stealing from their employer at any given time.  While
    overt security cameras serve to deter theft within their field of view, our hidden cameras are there to
    document what happens when your employee doesn't think they're being watched.
















    (The woman in this image, taken from a videotape recording, once worked in a small retail store.  The video camera that took this image
    required a lens opening no larger than the head of a pin.  It was not your typical security camera.)


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    WORKPLACE INJURIES

    You have an employee who’s filed a worker’s compensation claim and is “restricted” by his doctor to doing lite-
    duty work; that’s if you’re lucky. Some employees claim to be totally disabled and don’t return to work at all.  
    Accidents and injuries really do happen on the job – they’re not all scams.  But when you hear that your
    employee was out skiing, snowmobiling, running, working on his car etc when he was claiming he couldn’t
    come to work due to his pain, it’s time to do something about it.  Unfortunately, your insurance carrier might not
    be interested in assigning surveillance.  Sometimes they don’t believe that the value of the claim warrants the
    investment in surveillance – it’s just a dollars and cents issue to them.  Still other insurers don’t believe in
    surveillance at all – a lot of them have had bad experiences with poorly trained investigators.  When this
    happens, especially when your other employees become aware of the ease of getting away with filing false or
    exaggerated claims, it’s time to take matters into your own hands.  We’ve conducted thousands of insurance
    defense investigations over the years, and we know what the issues and objectives are.  We can help you put
    an end to the inevitable problems caused by the employee who just wants to take an extended vacation on
    your dime.

















    (The above images are stills taken from videotape.  They are typical examples of insurance claimants who didn't "go to work" on the day of our
    surveillance due to their disabling injuries.)


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    NON-COMPETE VIOLATIONS

    There is no shortage of employees who will sign a non-compete agreement today, and then turn around and
    violate it tomorrow.  Many non-compete agreements are unenforceable; they were written by lay people who
    had a poor understanding of the law.  Word has thus gotten out that non-compete agreements aren't worth the
    paper they're written on.  In some cases – that’s true; however, many non-compete agreements are
    enforceable.  You’ll want to speak with a qualified attorney, preferably one who specializes in labor law, to
    determine which version of the non-compete agreement you have.  If you have an enforceable agreement, and
    you believe that it’s being broken, we can help with the documentation.

















    (The man shown in this image, taken from videotape, signed a non-compete agreement with his former employer.  He agreed to refrain from
    competing in the carpet laying business within about 40 miles of his former employer.  This video was taken within five miles of that employer -
    our client, on one of his jobs.)


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    EMPLOYEE INTEGRITY

    We’ve seen it over and over again – an employee who appears to be a hard worker but for his poor
    productivity.  We've seen salesmen head out the door to make sales calls for the day, but instead go straight
    home for the remainder of the day.  We’ve seen them out on the golf course with their buddies.  We’ve seen
    them meet with our clients' competition to pass information and / or plan their joint ventures.  We’ve even seen
    them go to their other jobs (what a great way to get paid twice for the same hours!).  Still other employees,
    while still engaged in their work related activities, slow down to a snail’s pace as soon as they’re out of view of
    their employer.  When you have an employee who seems to play the game well, but is unexplainably under-
    performing, it may be time for you to look for the answer as to why.

              














                     
                      

                          (This image, taken from videotape, shows an employee smoking marijuana in the parking lot of his employer. )
Image deliberately
degraded so as to
protect the identity
of those involved.