Disability Insurance Lawsuit Stories

Donald Holman, a maintenance technician for Tyson Foods Inc., was insured under Tyson's group disability plan with Hartford Life and Accident Insurance Co. In April, 2001, Mr. Holman began experiencing headaches and blurred vision. After a cranial MRI, Mr. Holman's neurologist diagnosed him with a Chiari malformation.Mr. Holman's neurologist stated he was disabled and Mr. Holman stopped working and filed a...

Sandra Mikolajczyk, an employee of ABN AMBRO North America Inc., was awarded disability benefits for her depression, fatigue, chronic C6 radiculopathy, carpel tunnel syndrome, cholloid brain cyst, multivalve prolapse, cervical disc surgery, anterior cervical neural decompression and other disorders. Ms. Mikolajczyk was insured by her company's group disability policy with Broadspire Services, Inc.After two...

Rosa Wood had carpel tunnel syndrome and left work in 1999 because of it. After receiving short term disability benefits and undergoing back surgery, Ms. Wood applied for long term benefits. Initially, Ms. Wood's claim for benefits was denied however her plan eventually agreed to pay benefits for the first phase of long term disability. Under the first phase, claimants are entitled to benefits for seven to twe...

Florida Medical BusinessCurbside Consult: Greg DellQ: I'm an orthopaedic surgeon who has pain my disability insurance policy premiums on time, every month, for nine years. I recently developed carpal tunnel syndrome and filed a claim. To collect benefits, my insurer is requiring me to have surgery. Is this legal?A: In a similar case of mine, an orthopaedic surgeon ("Dr. Smith") filed a claim for the sa...

South Florida Hospital News, September 2006By Lois Thompson"Insurance carriers don't accept (disability) claims with open arms," Steven Jay Dell exclaimed. In continuing, he pointed out that it sometimes seems as if the insurance companies look for reasons not to pay, charging the claimant to be "guilty until proven innocent."One would think that the purpose of disability insurance is to pay the hold...

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT DISTRICT OF MAINEDaniel Donatelli, Plaintiff vs. UNUMPROVIDENT CORP., DefendantCivil No. 04-1-P-SAFFIDAVIT OF DANIEL DONATELLINOW COMES Daniel Donatelli and hereby states as follows under oath:My name is Daniel Donatelli. I am 18 years of age or older and believe in the obligation of an oath. The facts stated below in this affidavit are based on my personal knowled...

June 23, 2006, U.S. District Judge Joe B. McDade of the Central District of Illinois Ruled in favor of Susan Svejda, an employee of Mercantile Bancorp. Ms. Svedja was employed with Mercantile until 2002. After several visits to physicians and her neurologist, Dr. Douglas Sullivant, M.D., Ms. Svedja was diagnosed with MS, Chronic imbalance, depression and bowel problems including IBS (Irritable Bowel Syndrome) ...

United States 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals decided March 2006In Gibbs v. Cigna, the parties disputed whether the summary plan description reserved discretionary authority to the plan administrator. If so, the administrator's decision would be reviewed on appeal under an arbitrary and capricious standard. If not, the plaintiff would be entitled to de novo review.At issue in this case were two competing ...

Wangenstein v. Equifax, Inc., 2006 WL 2220822 (11th Cir. Aug. 4, 2006)ERISA plans often deny claims for disability benefits based on a lack of objective evidence. The plans argue that claimants must provide objective test results or verifiable data to establish their impairments. This issue becomes more complex, however, when a medical condition cannot be readily confirmed by a test result. This situation ...

By Peter GoselinDebra Potter made a good living selling disability coverage. But like many working Americans, she learned the hard way that federal law now favors insurers.Until a few years ago, Debra Potter made sure that her family could cruise the Caribbean, watch the NFL on big-screen TV and keep her elderly mother and in-laws at home in comfort.She did so by earning $250,000 a year selling mor...

Knowing the difference between "partially" and "totally disabled" can save you millions.Why does it matter whether you are considered totally or partially disabled by your disability insurance carrier? Most disability insurance policies provide that a person with a partial disability will be paid through age 65, while someone on total disability benefits will be paid for the duration of his or her life....

SAN FRANCISCO (BestWire) - Unum Provident Corp. is the target of a new lawsuit in which the plaintiffs are California "own-occupation" disability policyholders who seek a refund of billions of premium dollars from the company.About one month ago, Unum Provident (NYSE:UNM), the nation's largest disability insurer, agreed to pay California insurance regulators an $8 million fine, re-assess about 26,000 claim...

Dowdle v. National Life Ins. Co., 407 F.3d 967 (8th Cir. 2005) MinnesotaDr. Dowdle was an orthopedic surgeon who spent half his time performing surgeries and the other half in office consultations. Outside of his surgical practice, Dr. Dowdle performed approximately 7 Independent Medical Examinations per week. However, surgery and surgery-related care comprised 85% of Dr. Dowdle's orthopedic practice.A...

By Trevor ThomasUnumProvident Corp. has postponed its annual investor meeting until Oct. 17 in the hopes it can settle charges by California regulators that the company has improperly denied disability insurance claims.The company originally had scheduled the meeting for Sept. 21. In announcing the postponement, UnumProvident said it hoped that the delay might enable it to complete a settlement with th...

UnumProvident yesterday settled with California investigators for $8.6 million over allegations of improper claims handling.California's insurance department investigated the disability insurer for erroneous claims denials and benefit terminations for individuals with brain damage, spinal cord injuries, heart disease and AIDS.The state contends the country's largest provider of disability insurance wro...

Citation: DiGregorio v. Hartford Comprehensive Employee Benefit Serv. Co., No. 04-2219, No. 04-2252, 2005 U.S. App. LEXIS 19380, (1st Cir. Sept. 8, 2005).Angela DiGregorio, a secretary for Coopers & Lybrand was insured under the company's group long-term disability plan. In July 1995, carpal tunnel syndrome forced Ms. DiGregorio to stop working and apply for long-term disability benefits with Hartford ...

Citation: Schneider v. Sentry Group Long Term Disability Plan, No. 04-2689, 2005 U.S. App. LEXIS 19273. (7th Cir. Sept. 7, 2005).For almost three decades, Janet Schneider worked for Sentry Life and performed many different jobs, ultimately leading up to a position of Director of Underwriting Services. As an employee of Sentry Life, Ms. Schneider participated in Sentry Life's Group Long-Term Disability Plan...

Citation: Plaintiff v. Hartford Life Ins. Co., No. 8:04-cv-1741-T-24TGW, 2005 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 18681, (M.D. Fla. Aug. 31, 2005).Plaintiff was employed as a boatman for the Tampa Bay Pilots. He became disabled and unable to work due to hepatitis C, lumbar radiculopathy and failed back syndrome. Plaintiff began receiving long-term disability benefits in November 1996 until April 2003, when Hartford Life Insu...

Citation: Reffkin v. N.Y. Life Ins., No. C 04-04953 CRB, 2005 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 19732, (N.D. Cal. Aug. 29, 2005).Ruth Reffkin worked as an associate general manager for New York Life Insurance Company (hereinafter "N.Y. Life") and was covered under the company's group long-term disability plan. In 1994, Ms. Reffkin stopped working because she suffered from "occupationally induced asthma," and "sick building...

Citation: Klimas v. Conn. Gen. Life Ins. Co., NO. 2:04-CV-05408-LDD 2005 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 18555.Jennifer Klimas, an account executive for Sprint PCS, procured a group long-term disability policy through her employer that was funded and administered by Connecticut General Life Insurance Company (hereinafter "Connecticut General").In July 2002, Ms. Klimas underwent surgery to remove a fibroid on her uter...