After a district court overturned Liberty’s termination of disability payments in Gerhardt v. Liberty Life Assur.Co. of Boston,2009 U.S.App.LEXIS 16170 (8th Cir. July 23), it remanded the claim to Liberty for further proceedings. Instead of proceeding with the remand, Liberty sought to appeal the ruling. However, the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals concluded the […]
The 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals recent ruling in Krolnik v. Prudential Ins.Co., 2009 U.S.App.LEXIS 13916 (June 29), constitutes the definitive statement as to the scope of ERISA claims adjudication under the de novo standard. Krolnik involved a relatively typical disability insurance benefit claim under a group policy issued by Prudential Insurance Company. The […]
A district court in New York recently overturned a disability benefit termination decision by MetLife, citing a number of reasons and highlighting several issues that frequently arise in disability claims. In Solomon v. MetLife, 2009 U.S.Dist.LEXIS 51507 (S.D.N.Y. June 18), Judge Robert W. Sweet from the Southern District of New York, presented a thoughtful analysis worthy of discussion.
The recent Geer v. Hartford Life & Accid.Ins.Co., 2009 U.S.Dist.LEXIS 48332 (E.D.Mich. June 9), is one of the more thoughtful and carefully analyzed discovery rulings issued in the wake of Metro. Life Ins.Co. v. Glenn, 128 S.Ct. 2343 (2008), which dealt with the structural conflict inherent in an insurer’s dual role as claim administrator/payor of […]
The 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has issued a major ruling on how courts are to assess employee benefit claim decisions made within the context of ERISA. In Denmark v. Liberty Life Assur.Co. of Boston, 2009 U.S.App.LEXIS 9825 (May 6), the court revisited an earlier ruling in a disability benefits claim involving fibromyalgia (Denmark […]