State: Worker who got $186K in ‘dog phobia’ case owned dogs

OLYMPIA, Wash. (AP) - A meter reader who was attacked by a dog while on duty and collected years of workers’ compensation is now accused of stealing the money, the Washington State Department of Labor and Industries said .

Linda Jordan of Cathlamet told the agency the attack gave her such a strong fear of dogs she couldn’t work anymore and fainted at the sight of them, the agency said.

She’s now accused of stealing $186,000 of workers’ compensation money, The Bellingham Herald reported.

A dog bit Jordan while she was working for the Pacific County Public Utility District in 2007. According to L&I, she filed an injury claim. In 2018, a claim manager suspected there was something wrong and an investigation began.

An L&I investigator went to Jordan’s property and was “greeted by three small French bulldogs” when he arrived and “watched her three large boxers swarm around her,” according to L&I.

She told the agent that she and her husband rescued and fostered boxers over the last 30 years, “and even warned the investigator that one of her recently rescued dogs might bite,” according to the news release.

Jordan is charged with felony theft in Wahkiakum County for “wrongfully receiving nearly $163,000 in wage-replacement payments, plus more than $23,000 in vocational and medical services, from 2016 to 2019.”

“The defendant’s alleged actions in this case are so blatant it’s astounding,” said Chris Bowe, assistant director of L&I’s Fraud Prevention and Labor Standards, according to the news release.

It wasn’t immediately known if Jordan has a lawyer to comment.