Toronto:
A 29-year-old Canadian woman has lost thousands of dollars as medical insurance benefits after her photographs on social networking site Facebook showed she is enjoying 'good time', despite being on sick leave.
Nathalie Blanchard, a Quebec resident and employee of IT giant IBM, was diagnosed with major depression. She went on a long leave from her job since last 18 months.
Blanchard was receiving monthly sick leave benefits from Manulife insurance company, till they blocked it recently, Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) reported on Sunday.
When she called up the insurance company it said, "I'm available to work, because of Facebook," she was quoted as saying by CBC News.
The agent of the company said Blanchard's pictures on Facebook, some of which show her at Chippendales bar, enjoying birthday party and on a sun beach holiday - are evidence enough that she is no more 'depressed'.
However, Blanchard claimed that she undertook the revelry on the advice of her doctor as a means to get rid of ailment and that she had already informed Manulife about her trip.
"I don't think for judging a mental state that Facebook is a very good tool," Blanchard's lawyer Tom Lavin said, adding that he has requested another psychiatric evaluation for his client.
Confirming that it uses the social networking sites, Manulife said in a statement: "We would not deny or terminate a valid claim solely based on information published on websites such as Facebook."