I referred to someone as a fick last week, and realized Ethics Alarms hadn’t exposed any of that particularly loathsome breed recently. Upon checking, I discovered that the last official Ethics Alarms fick was designated way back in 2021. It was Bennett Madison, a columnist at the now (thankfully) defunct Gawker site. He had openly boasted about deceiving advice columnists and their trusting readers in his article titled, “Help! I Couldn’t Stop Writing Fake Dear Prudence Letters That Got Published.”

Sara Morris says, “Hold my beer!”

The Ethics Alarms term “fick” means an unethical individual who openly and blatantly violates social norms of responsibility, honesty or fairness without shame or remorse.” The name is in honor, if you can call it that, of Leroy Fick, who happily admitted in 2011 that he had continued to collect public assistance after winning $2 million dollars in the Michigan lottery because a loophole in the law allowed him to do so. Sara, who lives in Stoke on Trent in Great Britain, would give the late Leroy serious competition, and if I had learned about her first, a fick today might be called a “sara.”

Morris was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis in 2005, and four years ago applied for a Personal Independence Payment (PIP) she certified that she couldn’t get out of her bath unassisted, lacked proper balance and didn’t have the strength to stand in front of her stove. Morris also said that she felt so anxious when leaving the house that even a short trip to the pharmacy crippled her with anxiety. This was sufficient to persuade the country’s national health care system to give her £2,292.63 in benefits per month, the equivalent of almost $36,000 over the course of a year.

While she was receiving these benefits, Sara Morris competed in at least 73 races between May 2019 and December 2022. Here’s the fickish part: she posted photos of her marathons and other races on her social media accounts. She was also a registered member of the Stone Master Marathoners. When she was finally caught, charged, and faced a judge in 2023, she claimed that running was how she managed her MS.

Nice try. “You told lies about the severity of your condition,” the court told her. “You were awarded the rate for somebody who cannot walk for one single meter. It is awarded to people who are wheelchair-bound or have no legs at all. You were regularly running and competing in organized running events. This was a planned, professional, and deliberate fraud. You lied through your teeth and severely exaggerated your condition to receive payment.”

She’s been locked up for the past eight months (Good!) and in November, it will be determined how she pays back the money she received through her fraudulent claims.

Fick.