Depressed Woman Parties on Facebook, Sick Leave Yanked

Canadian on sick leave posted party pics
By Jane Yager,  Newser Staff
Posted Nov 23, 2009 5:33 AM CST
Depressed Woman Parties on Facebook, Sick Leave Yanked
A Facebook login page is seen on a computer screen in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada Thursday, August 27, 2009.   (AP Photo/The Canadian Press, Adrian Wyld)

After a year and a half on sick leave for depression, a Canadian woman lost her benefits—because of her Facebook page. Nathalie Blanchard says the insurance company that cut off her payments cited Facebook photos that show her partying at a Chippendales show, enjoying her birthday, and frolicking on the beach, CBC reports. Blanchard claims she's still depressed and is fighting to get the benefits back.

Blanchard says she was just following her psychiatrist's advice to try to have fun. "It's not as if somebody had a broken back and there was a picture of them carrying a load of bricks," her lawyer said. "My client was diagnosed with a major depression. And there were pictures of her on Facebook, in a party or having a good time. It could be that she was just trying to escape." (More Facebook stories.)

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