You can either collect tens of thousands of dollars in workers’ comp or you can star in a reality show about the rigors of the logging industry, but you can’t do both.
That’s a lesson Jimmy Smith may have to learn the hard way.
Smith has become a regular on the reality show “Ax Men,” which airs on the History Channel. On the show, viewers get a glimpse into Smith’s world, a world that includes the daily struggles of running his logging business in Florida.
Unfortunately for Smith, one of Ax Men’s viewers spends his days as a state investigator. That investigator was none too pleased to tune in one day and see Smith — a man who at that time was collecting $50,000 in workers comp benefits from the state of Washington — “using heavy equipment to pull logs from a river.”
Smith’s workers’ comp benefits have been cut while he awaits trial; he’s facing 17 charges of theft.