Thought a new thread was appropriate, did not want to depreciate John's thread. Another issue for the Mueller Family.
The owners of the popular East Austin restaurant La Barbecue are being indicted on fraud charges related to a 2016 insurance claim, according to a news release issued by the Texas Department of Insurance (TDI) earlier today, August 23.
The married couple, founder LeAnn Mueller and manager Allison Clem, have been summoned to appear in Travis County District Court on September 28 for allegedly carrying out a workers’ compensation fraud scheme, which resulted in a payout of more than $350,000 in medical and indemnity benefits.
According to TDI, the case began sometime in late July 2016 after an unnamed employee was hurt badly while working with kitchen equipment at La Barbecue when it was a food truck parked at 1906 East Cesar Chavez Street. Allegedly, that same day, Mueller and Clem were made aware of the injuries. During that time, the business didn’t have workers’ compensation coverage (and had been without it at the time since November 2014). However, the TDI report states that four days after the incident happened, Clem reached out to Paychex Insurance to acquire such coverage.
The TDI Fraud Unit states through the release that Clem did not share the employee’s incident or their injuries with the insurance agent. The department claims that she did, however, ask for the new policy to be backdated to July 1, 2016, which, according to the investigation, was three weeks prior to the employee sustaining their injuries. TDI reports that Mueller then signed an application for coverage, reporting that there had been no claims, allowing Travelers Casualty Insurance Company of America to approve the policy.
The release goes on to say that, after the policy was in place, the restaurant submitted a claim to Travelers for the injured employee, which was approved, resulting in the payout of more than $350,000 in benefits. According to the TDI release, the insurance company also assumed lifetime care for the injured employee. The exact injuries have not been made public at the time of publishing.
A case summary from the 147th District Court states the official offense as “fraudulent securing document execution,” which is considered a felony. The summary also lists the date for a pre-trial hearing as September 27.
If found guilty, it’s possible that Mueller and Clem would be ordered to pay restitution, plus up to double the amount Travelers already paid to the injured worker in benefits, as TDI details. In the state of Texas, employers are not required to have workers’ compensation coverage, but it is at their own risk, as lack of coverage leaves businesses open to potential injury lawsuits from employees.
Eater has reached out to Mueller, Clem, TDI, and the Travis County District Attorney’s Office for further comments.
Austin Restaurant La Barbecue Owners Indicted on Insurance Fraud Charges - Eater Austin
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