I’m pleased to report that this week’s notable decision is a gem of a discovery decision obtained by our firm in the matter of Gray v. Unum Life Insurance Company of America, et al., No. 17-1778-JGB-KKx (C.D. Cal. Sept. 21, 2018) (unreported).  Plaintiff alleged that Unum wrongfully terminated her long term disability benefits under the Boy Scouts of America Long Term Disability Plan.  Plaintiff filed a motion to compel responses to discovery requests aimed at ascertaining Unum’s business practice of forecasting and targeting disability claims for potential “recoveries” or terminations.  

The court granted Plaintiff’s motion to compel Unum to respond to Requests for Production, Nos. 2-5, which seek the following:

• Request No. 2: “All Weekly Tracking Qtr. View Reports for claims within the same Unit(s) to which THE CLAIM was assigned during the time period of May 30, 2016 through and including October 30, 2017.” Continue Reading Court Compels Unum to Produce Information About Its Alleged Forecasting and Targeting of Disability Claims for Termination

This week’s notable decision involves the denied long-term disability dispute in Hennen v. Metropolitan Life Insurance Company, No. 17-3080, __F.3d__, 2018 WL 4376994 (7th Cir. Sept. 14, 2018).  The Seventh Circuit overturned the grant of summary judgment to MetLife and remanded the case to MetLife for further proceedings.  The dispute centers on MetLife’s application of its “neuromusculoskeletal and soft tissue disorders” provision, which limits payment for disabilities caused by these conditions to just twenty-four months.  Exceptions to this limitation are disabilities caused by radiculopathy.  MetLife defined radiculopathy as “Disease of the peripheral nerve roots supported by objective clinical findings of nerve pathology.” Continue Reading Seventh Circuit Questions MetLife’s Interpretation of Neuromusculoskeletal Limitation in Long Term Disability Plan

Good morning, ERISA Watchers!  Last week was quite a busy week with notable Circuit Court decisions.  In Hager v. DBG Partners, Inc., No. 17-11147, __F.3d__, 2018 WL 4258968 (5th Cir. Sept. 6, 2018), the court addressed an issue of first impression for the Fifth Circuit concerning the availability of a remedy for a COBRA notice violation.  The court determined that payment of all medical expenses is compensatory damages which is not available under ERISA Section 502(a)(3).  But, a penalty is available under Section 502(c)(1) and the court could “discern no barrier to the court awarding the amount of [the participant’s] medical expenses as a penalty.”  The court remanded the case to the district court to determine whether to award a penalty and the amount of such penalty. Continue Reading Circuit Courts Tackle Issues of First Impression and Preemption