Standard Disability Help

Standard Insurance Wins Appellate Remand for Claimant's Own Occupation Disability Determination

Cheney v. Standard Insurance Company and Long Term Disability Insurance (Standard) is a case in which the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit sent back to the Illinois District Court for resolution of several issues. One issue concerned whether or not the plaintiff was disabled from working within her own occupation.

Overview of Relevant Facts

In 1991, the plaintiff, Carole Cheney, began working as an attorney for Kirkland & Ellis, LLP (Kirkland). In 1997 she was made a partner. For all her years at Kirkland, she suffered from spinal problems, including degenerative spinal disease. Kirkland granted her request for ergonomic accommodations in 1994. In 2003, due to her health issues, she was allowed to do most of her work at home.

In July 2012, just prior to undergoing a spinal fusion, she applied for long-term disability benefits. Her application was denied and she filed an ERISA law suit in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Illinois. The District Court ordered Standard to pay benefits to Cheney and found she was disabled from working in her own occupation. Standard appealed. The court of appeals found that when the district court determined she was disabled from her own occupation, it erred and “asked the wrong question.” The case was remanded for district court to make findings consistent with the Court of Appeals order.

Standard’s Own Occupation Definition

Under Standard’s policy, a person is considered disabled from their own occupation if they “are unable to perform with reasonable continuity the Material Duties” of their own occupation. “Own Occupation” is defined as employment “of the same general character as the occupation you are regularly performing for your Employer when Disability begins.” The policy continues, “If your Own Occupation necessitates a professional or occupational license, the scope of your Own Occupation is ‘as broad as the scope of your license.’”

In determining that Cheney was disabled from her own occupation, the district court found that she was unable to work as a litigation partner in a big law firm. The district court has specifically stated that whether or not she could work as a lawyer was “not the question.” In fact, the court of appeals found that to be the exact question that needed to be resolved under the terms of the policy, saying “Because the practice of law requires a license, the issue is whether Cheney can find any work—in the same specialty or another, or generally—as a lawyer.” The case was remanded for resolution of this issue.

Inability to Perform Just One Essential Job Task Does Not Qualify Plaintiff for Benefits

The district court seemed to find Cheney was disabled from her own occupation because she was unable to sit at a computer or sit in court. The court of appeals disagreed, noting, “The inability to perform a single material job task does not demonstrate disability within the meaning of this policy.” The court remanded since the district court’s treatment of this issue was “cursory and not supported by evidence from Cheney’s doctors.”

This case was not handled by our office, but it may provide guidance to those who have similar “own occupation” clauses in their disability policies and need help in the interpretation. Feel free to call our disability attorneys for a free consultation on this or any matter relevant to your disability claim.

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S.B., this sounds extremely unusual and unreasonable, I suggest you contact our office and speak with one of the attorneys to address the specific questions you have re... read more >

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I am a physician in my 30s who was practicing in my hospital based medical specialty until my Multiple Sclerosis diagnosis began to severely limit my physical ability to work.

My husband and I were obviously in distress at these very unwanted life changes and frankly overwhelmed with the possibility of a long and traumatizing legal battle ahead of us. We knew we were legally entitled to benefits through the separate private individual and employer based ERISA disability insurance policies we had, but even cursory research and discussion with colleagues made it clear that insurance companies will strategize with their own legal teams to find ways to not pay out benefits. We found many before us who had fallen unwittingly into legal pitfalls that prevented them from ultimately obtaining benefits. We realized we needed to seek legal counseling.

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We are happy to announce we just received approval of claim from the Hartford insurance company.

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As anyone with a chronic and progressive illness can tell you, time becomes a very precious commodity. Through their representation, Dell Disability Associates has allowed us to focus the majority of our time enjoying the time and function I have left while resting assured that our disability case laid in competent and caring hands.

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We highly recommend Dell Disability Lawyers, Mr. Steven Dell and Ms. Merlin Bryan to handle your disability insurance claim.

Thank you Steven, thank you Merlin!

We will certainly plan on leaving another review for completeness once we have our final decision from Ameritas.

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I had to retire from my career due to a bad back that restricted me from performing my duties. I had LTD insurance and after a few years of receiving monthly benefits from this insurance company, they notified me that my benefits were terminated stating that I don’t qualify due to my duties not fitting into some “national job description” and a nurse had deemed me eligible to go back to work. Its a crushing feeling to have this told to you over the phone with hardly any information given. Luckily, I came across Dell Disability Lawyers and spoke with Attorney Palamara who calmed me down and stated they would take my case. Within a couple of months my benefits were restored, and I had piece of mind. I cannot thank Attorney Palamara and the staff enough at Dell Disability for their professionalism, no nonsense approach, personal and timely communication and quick ability to litigate my case.

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