Texas Court Orders Union Central to Provide Discovery to Plaintiff
Shuping v. The Union Central Life Insurance Company is a plaintiff friendly case in the early stages of disability litigation in a Texas federal court. After Randy Shuping filed his ERISA lawsuit, Union Central made a motion asking the court to make its disability decision solely on the administrative record. It argued that plaintiff was not entitled to discovery of any other information or documents. Shuping filed a detailed motion explaining why discovery was necessary. The court agreed with the plaintiff, denied Union Central’s motion to prevent discovery and ruled the plaintiff was entitled to discovery on four separate issues.
Overview of Facts
According to facts presented in plaintiff’s brief in support of discovery, Randy Shuping was employed by Bichsel Trucking when he lost control of the tractor-trailer he was driving which rolled over and landed on its side. He was seriously injured and was hospitalized for a long period of time during which he received treatment from numerous medical providers.
Shuping’s application for payment of medical expenses and lost time benefits provided for in a Union Central policy provided by his employer. His application was denied when Union Central claimed his injuries were not caused by an “occupational accident” as defined in the policy. The detailed definition was provided in Shuping’s brief, but the specific reason Union Central denied benefits was not discussed.
Ultimately, Shuping filed this ERISA lawsuit and requested discovery. Union Central objected, arguing the case should be decided on the administrative record with no other discovery allowed. The court instructed Shuping to file a brief in support of his request for discovery. In response to the brief, the court granted Shuping’s discovery request.
Court Order Granting Discovery
Union Central argued that the court should review the case according to a standard that would give deference to Union Central’s decision and therefore, there was no right to discovery and the case should be decided solely on the administrative record. Although the court agreed that Union Central could be correct if, and only if, that was the standard of review the court should employ. But, the court continued, “Even in a deferential review of the administrator’s exercise of its discretion, the Court would be obliged to consider matters that may require factual exploration through discovery beyond the administrative record, and thus, simply turning over the administrative record will not suffice.”
The court ruled, consistent with arguments presented in Shuping’s brief for discovery, that at a minimum, Shuping was entitled to discovery concerning:
- “The consistency of the administrator’s interpretation of Shuping’s plan;
- Inquiry into the nature and significance of unanticipated costs that might result in different interpretations of the plan;
- Inquiry into the administrator’s good faith; and
- Whether the administrator was laboring under a conflict of interest.”
This case was not handled by our office, but may be instructive for those who seek discovery against opposition by their own insurer. If you are pursuing disability benefits, feel free to call any of our attorneys for a free consultation.
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Our disability insurance attorneys help individuals that have either purchased a long term disability insurance policy from an insurance company or obtained short or long term disability insurance coverage as a benefit from their employer. We have helped individuals in almost every type of occupation with monthly disability benefit payments ranging from $1,500 to $50,000.
Our clients include all types of employees ranging from retail associates, sales representatives, government employees, police officers, teachers, janitors, nurses, pilots, truck drivers, financial advisors, doctors, dentists, veterinarians, lawyers, consultants, IT professionals, engineers, professional athletes, business owners, and high level executives.
A strong understanding and presentation of the duties of your occupation is essential for securing disability insurance benefits.
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Yes. We are a national disability insurance law firm that is available to represent you regardless of where you live in the United States. We have partner lawyers in every state and we have filed lawsuits in most federal courts nationwide. Our disability insurance lawyers represent disability claimants at all stages of a claim for disability insurance benefits. There is nothing that our lawyers have not seen in the disability insurance world.
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Since we represent disability insurance claimants at different stages of a disability insurance claim we offer a variety of different fee options. We understand that claimants living on disability insurance benefits have a limited source of income; therefore we always try to work with the claimant to make our attorney fees as affordable as possible.
The three available fee options are a contingency fee agreement (no attorney fee or cost unless we make a recovery), hourly fee or fixed flat rate.
In every case we provide each client with a written fee agreement detailing the terms and conditions. We always offer a free initial phone consultation and we appreciate the opportunity to work with you in obtaining payment of your disability insurance benefits.
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No. For purposes of efficiency and to reduce expenses for our clients we have found that 99% of our clients prefer to communicate via phone, email, fax, or video conferencing sessions. If you prefer an initial in-person meeting please let us know. A disability company will never require you to come to their office and similarly we are set up so that we handle your entire claim without the need for you to come to our office.
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When you call us during normal business hours you will immediately speak with a disability insurance attorney. We can be reached at 800-698-9159 or by email. Lawyers and staff must return all client calls same day. Client emails are usually replied to within the same business day and seem to be the preferred and most efficient method of communication for most clients.