Although couched in a ruling on a motion to reconsider an order compelling MetLife to respond to plaintiff’s discovery requests, a recent thoughtful opinion in Hogan-Cross v. Metropolitan Life Ins.Co., 2008 U.S.Dist.LEXIS 58027 (S.D.N.Y. July 31), a disability benefit dispute, explains the paradigm shift in ERISA litigation created by a recent Supreme Court ruling. Judge […]
In a recent Social Security disability ruling, the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals offered a number of very thoughtful and constructive observations about the assessment of disability. The case of Bauer v. Astrue, 2008 U.S. App. LEXIS 14484 (7th Cir., July 8), involved a claimant who suffered from bipolar disorder, a mental condition characterized […]
A recent district court ruling in Texas offers a cautionary tale to practitioners. Acuna v. Connecticut General Life Ins.Co., 2008 U.S.Dist.LEXIS 51136 (E.D.Texas May 28, 2008), involved an anesthesiologist who suffered from a severe ocular disorder that forced her to stop working and pursue a claim for disability benefits in 2003.
In Firestone Tire & Rubber Co. v. Bruch, 489 U.S. 101 (1989), the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that benefit claims under the ERISA law should be evaluated under principles of trust law, which allows discretionary authority to be vested in trustees to determine eligibility to receive benefits and to interpret the plan documents. At the […]
A recent ruling from the federal court in Atlanta, Johnson v. Metropolitan Life Ins.Co., 2008 U.S.Dist.LEXIS 42944 (N.D.Ga. May 30, 2008), offered a very interesting and thorough analysis of a disability benefit dispute. In Johnson, the plaintiff, who had worked for Cingular for more than 13 years as a ”field coordinator, global accounts,” suffered from […]