Functional capacity evaluations are frequently used in disability insurance evaluations. While some courts have deemed such testing reliable, Alfano v. Cigna Life Ins.Co. of N.Y., 2009 U.S.Dist.LEXIS 7688 (S.D.N.Y. Jan. 30), offers an object lesson as to why courts need to be careful in assessing such tests. The plaintiff in Alfano worked in an administrative […]
A recent 2d U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruling, Slupinski v. First Unum Life Insur. Co., 2009 U.S.App.LEXIS 1157 (Jan. 23), offers a textbook lesson on attorney’s fee awards as well as the propriety of prejudgment interest awards under ERISA.
A thoughtful examination of the underpinning of a disability benefit termination resulted in a reversal of the insurer’s decision in Anderson v. Nationwide Mut.Ins.Co., 2009 U.S.Dist.LEXIS 1859 (S.D.Iowa Jan. 12). The claim arose when the plaintiff had to cease working after failed back surgery. Before her claim was approved, Nationwide had Anderson undergo an independent medical examination which supported the benefit claim. The independent physician reported that Anderson was incapable of working at any job because pain prevented her from sustaining a position for a long enough time to accomplish any productive tasks.
The recent ruling in McDowell v. Standard Ins.Co., 2008 U.S.Dist.LEXIS 99239 (N.D.Ga. Nov. 24, 2008), focuses on the proper scope of review in an ERISA case adjudicated under the de novo standard. The plaintiff in McDowell was an attorney who suffered back and closed head injuries when he was rear ended by another car traveling […]
McCauley v. First Unum Life Ins. Co., 2008 U.S.App.LEXIS 26094 (2d Cir. Dec. 24), recently issued by the 2d U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, is the first major appellate ruling to fully appreciate the impact of Metropolitan Life Insurance Co. v. Glenn, 128 S. Ct. 2343 (2008), in evaluating benefit claim denials under ERISA. The […]