A few weeks ago one of the notable decisions out of the Eastern District of Tennessee, Jordan v. Reliance Standard Life Insurance Company, 2018 WL 543041 (E.D. Tenn. Jan. 24, 2018), held that the claimant’s failure to file her ERISA lawsuit for benefits upon the administrator’s failure to make a decision on her appeal within 45 days, and her continued pursuit of administrative remedies thereafter, required her to “pursue the administrative pathway to its end.”  

This week’s notable decision out of the Seventh Circuit, Dragus v. Reliance Standard Life Ins. Co., No. 17-1752, __F.3d__, 2018 WL 851164 (7th Cir. Feb. 14, 2018), is the same song to a different beat.  In Dragus, the Seventh Circuit held that Dragus waived the argument that Reliance Standard’s failure to render a timely decision on her claim compelled de novo review simply because she pursued administrative review through an appeal rather than pursued available remedies when the issue arose (i.e. immediately file a lawsuit).  On the merits of the case, the court determined that Reliance Standard’s decision was not arbitrary and capricious, where it relied on four independent physicians who did an “unbiased investigation.”  [Query: Is that really possible?].  Additionally, the court held that Plaintiff was not entitled to supplement the claim record with the Social Security Administration’s decision finding that Dragus is disabled from any gainful employment.
Continue Reading In the Seventh Circuit, File Suit Immediately or Lose De Novo Review