We routinely update this section of our website and we invite you to join our disability updates email newsletter in order to keep track of the most recent long-term disability insurance cases and disability industry news.

• February 4, 2010
  Standard Insurance Company’s Denial Of Long-Term Disability Benefits To An Attorney Is Reversed By Federal Court
  

  The case we are going to discuss here highlights one of the ways an insurance company attempts to justify discontinuance of benefits after they have begun paying them.
  George Nevitt, a practicing attorney fell down a flight of stairs on June 19, 2001. His injuries were so severe, that The Standard Insurance Company (Standard), the company that provided his company’s employee [...]

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• February 3, 2010
  Tribal Court Retains Jurisdiction For Tribal Member’s Disability Insurance Lawsuit Against Assurant And Union Security
  

  When Richard Geroux brought a long-term disability insurance underpayment complaint before the Tribal Court of the Keweenaw Bay Indian Community, L’Anse Reservation, Mich., the insurance companies involved, Assurant, Inc (Assurant) and Union Security Insurance Company (Union Security) immediately sought to remove his case to the United States District Court for the Western District of Michigan, Northern Division. The insurance companies [...]

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• February 3, 2010
  Unum’s Denial Of Disability Benefits To A Registered Nurse (“RN”) And Trial Court Victory Is Reversed By The Appellate Court
  

  Many long-term disability cases revolve around the issue of what constitutes the ability or inability to work in any gainful employment for which you “are reasonably fitted by education, training or experience.” The following case is another example.
  In July of 2001, Linda Gardner stopped working as an operating room nurse. She had been diagnosed with avascular necrosis (AVN) in both [...]

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• January 29, 2010
  Reliance Standard Makes Disability Claimant Take Them To Court Twice In 5 Years
  

  A ruling in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York found Reliance Standard Life Insurance Company (“Reliance”) acted in an arbitrary and capricious manner when it denied Elizabeth Diamond long-term disability benefits. Here is her story.
  Ms. Diamond worked for Paine Webber as a desktop publisher. Coverage from Reliance through a Group Long Term Disability (LTD) Insurance Policy [...]

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• January 27, 2010
  Pennsylvania Federal Court Denies Unum�s Attempts To Dismiss A Physician�s Bad Faith Disability Lawsuit
  

  An opinion issued by the United States District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania in November 2009 highlights the challenges an attorney faces when a complaint for denial of disability insurance benefits involves parties from different jurisdictions. An attorney must be very knowledgeable regarding insurance contract law in their state, because the laws of the state in which the [...]

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• January 25, 2010
  MetLife’s Denial Of Short-Term Disability Benefits Found Arbitrary And Capricious
  

  After 18 years of work as a management assistant at Raytheon Company, Dorothy Whitehouse suffered a psychotic episode in the workplace triggered by an experience with her boss and co-workers. The severity of the attack prompted her to immediately schedule an emergency appointment with her therapist, a licensed social worker on August 23, 2007.
  On August 28, Whitehouse filed a claim [...]

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• January 7, 2010
  CIGNA Failed To Follow Proper Claim Denial Procedure, Nurse’s Right To Pursue Disability Law Suit Under ERISA Supported By District Court
  

  Linda Chavis filed a complaint against Cigna Group Insurance and Life Insurance Company of North America (LINA) on June 24, 2009, alleging that the insurance company had breached two disability insurance contracts by refusing to pay her claims for short-term disability (STD) insurance and for long-term disability (LTD) insurance. While Cigna filed a motion to dismiss the complaint, Chavis stated [...]

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• January 6, 2010
  Prudential’s Failure To Provide Documents Weighs In Long Term Disability Claimant’s Favor
  

  In a ruling filed on November 17, 2009, the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit found that Prudential Insurance Company of America (Prudential) had failed to provide Barbara Brown adequate information with which to appeal their decision to deny her long term disability (LTD) benefits. As a result, the court did not apply a common court-approved practice [...]

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• January 5, 2010
  Hartford Wins Long-Term Disability Case Based On Pre-Existing Condition Defense
  

  The Third Circuit Court of Appeals recently rendered a very difficult decision in favor of Hartford Insurance Company dealing with the interpretation of pre-existing condition clauses in long-term disability income policies.  The three judge panel ruled 2-1 in favor of upholding Hartford’s denial of disability benefits.  The law in each state is different for pre-existing conditions, therefore a disability claimant [...]

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• December 10, 2009
  The Standard Insurance Company Loses Their Battle To Enforce Discretionary Clauses In Long-Term Disability Policies
  

  Once again the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals has upheld a state’s rights to protect employees that have long-term disability insurance policies issued by their employers. In an opinion filed on October 27, 2009, three circuit judges on the ninth circuit reached a unanimous decision that a state’s practice of disapproving insurance policies that contain clauses that vest insurers [...]

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