Chief U.S. District Judge William Young, the author of the provocative indictment of the claims practices of the Unum Provident Corp. in Radford Trust v. First Unum Life Insurance Company of America, 321 F.Supp.2d 226 (D. Mass. 2004), has written yet another thoughtful opinion. The ruling in Iwata v. Intel Corp., 2004 U.S. Dist. LEXIS […]
Plaintiff Wanda J. Stup, who suffers from lupus and fibromyalgia, won affirmance of a judgment holding that defendant Unum Life Insurance Company of America abused its discretion in denying her request for disability benefits. Although Unum did not dispute the plaintiff’s diagnoses, it had rejected the claim based on its determination that the plaintiff could […]
After winning summary judgment in the trial court, plaintiff Linda Ellis suffered a crushing defeat in the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which rejected her claim for disability coverage.Ellis v. Liberty Life Assurance Company of Boston, 2004 U.S.App.LEXIS 24199 (5th Cir., Nov. 19). Ellis was a loan officer for Chase Manhattan Bank until 1999, […]
The recent decision in Unum Life Insurance Company of America v. O’Brien, 2004 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 20761 (M.D. Fla., Oct. 4), presents a typical scenario where a disability insurer sues an unrepresented claimant, seeking reimbursement of benefits that had been overpaid due to the receipt of a Social Security award. Such suits are based on […]