Court Finds Employee Was Totally Disabled
The plaintiff, a pharmaceutical sales representative, suffered from degenerative spinal disc disease, which progressively worsened to the point where he could no longer maintain employment.
Author: Mark Debofsky
Documents Ruling Cuts Access to Courts
A federal judge in Georgia recently answered the question of whether the penalties that are available under § 502(c)(1) of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act, 29 U.S.C. § 1132(c), up to $110 per day for failure to provide plan participants and beneficiaries with plan documents on request, applies to documents sought as part of an appeal made pursuant to section 503. Montgomery v. Metropolitan Life Insurance Co., 2005 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 34915 (N.D. Ga., Nov. 30).
Court Judgment Stays on the Books
A federal court in Virginia recently confronted a situation that arises with some degree of regularity: a judgment is entered by a court, the loser files a notice of appeal and then offers to settle the case, but imposes as a condition of the settlement that the judgment be vacated.
Another Court Questions Impartiality of Doctor
A federal judge recently looked beyond the claim record and into a reviewer’s wallet in concluding that an insurer improperly terminated disability benefits.
Claimant Denied Fair Chance to Continue Benefits
A recent 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals case could aptly be entitled ”Halpin Redux,” since the decision was written by Judge Kenneth F. Ripple, who penned Halpin v. W.W. Grainger Inc., 962 F.2d 685 (7th Cir. 1992), and the case covers the identical ground.
In Schneider v. Sentry Group Long Term Disability Plan, 2005 U.S. App. LEXIS 19273 (7th Cir., Sept. 7), an employee of Sentry Life began receiving disability benefits in 2001 due to major depression.