LOS ANGELES — An actress that appeared on one of television's most-watched shows has found herself in trouble with the California Department of Insurance.
In a press release, the department said Q’Orianka Kilcher was charged with two felony counts of workers' compensation insurance fraud.
The agency said she is accused of collecting $96,838 in disability benefits despite starring in the Kevin Costner-led series during the same time she told a doctor that she was too injured to work.
Officials said Kilcher self-surrendered and was arraigned on May 27.
Her attorney appeared in court on her behalf on Monday, the department said in a statement.
Kilcher apparently injured her neck and right shoulder in October 2018 while shooting the movie “Dora and the Lost City of Gold," officials said.
"She saw a doctor a few times that year but stopped treatment and did not respond to the insurance company handling her claim on behalf of her employer," the department said.
According to officials, in Oct. 2019, Kilcher reached out to the insurance company requesting treatment, informing the doctor that she'd been offered work since sustaining her injury but couldn't accept it because the pain in her neck "was too severe."
Based on her statements to the doctor, the agency said Kilcher received the temporary total disability benefits between October 14, 2019, through September 9, 2021.
But an investigation found that she had been working on "Yellowstone" from July 2019 to October 2019, despite telling a doctor that she could not work for a year, the department said.
According to the agency, Kilcher began receiving disability benefits five days after she last worked on the show.
"When told about Kilcher's recent employment history, the doctor on her claim stated if they had been aware of it, they would have never granted her the disability payments," officials said.
According to the agency, she is scheduled to appear in court on Aug. 7.
