Creepy insurance company pulls coverage due to Facebook pics

November 23rd, 2009

The things people post on Facebook have gotten them in trouble with spouses, their employers, the law (or not, as the case may be), and now their insurance companies. A 29-year-old Canada woman is now battling her insurance company, Manulife, after her sick leave benefits were revoked thanks to photos she posted on her Facebook page. She wasn’t skipping out on work and she didn’t even post a public update, but the company somehow managed to find her private photos and has decided to stop paying out.

Nathalie Blanchard took leave from her job at IBM a year and a half ago after being diagnosed with “major depression,” according to CBC News. At that time, Manulife began paying out monthly sick leave checks as part of her benefit package—until Blanchard posted photos to her private Facebook profile depicting her having fun at her own birthday party.