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 […]
The impact of a recent Supreme Court ruling involving disability benefits was at issue in Chronister v. Unum Life Ins.Co. of America, 2009 U.S.App.LEXIS 9033 (8th Cir. April 30). This ruling marked the second time the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals had occasion to consider Sandra Chronister’s application for disability benefits. In the first […]
Can a party who loses in federal court condition a settlement on appeal on the district court vacating its ruling? That was the issue presented in Welch v. Unum Life Ins.Co. of America, 2009 U.S.Dist.LEXIS 34018 (D.Kan. April 22, 2009). The plaintiff initially won this case, but the court of appeals reversed and remanded. Welch […]
The deferential standard of review given to insurance companies in ERISA cases was subject to a rigorous examination in Kramer v. Paul Revere Life Ins. Co., 2009 U.S.App.LEXIS 7387 (6th Cir. April 8, 2009)(unpublished). There, an obstetrician and gynecologist, Dr. Lois Kramer, had two disability insurance policies underwritten by the same insurer.