For the last year, there has been an ongoing debate in the federal court in Philadelphia as to whether the Employee Retirement Income Security Act, 29 U.S.C. sec1001, et seq., preempts claims involving insured benefits such as disability or health insurance disputes brought under Pennsylvania’s bad-faith statute, 42 Pa.C.S. sec8371. On the one side are […]
The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals’ ruling in Jordan v. Northrop Grumman Corp. Welfare Benefit Plan, 2004 U.S.App.LEXIS 10626 (June 1), is one of those cases where plaintiff lawyers are able to learn an important lesson even though this particular plaintiff was unsuccessful.
The 3d U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals recently confronted the question of whether a “preexisting” condition really was preexisting and thus precluded insurance coverage. McLeod v. Hartford Life and Accident Insurance Co., 2004 U.S.App.LEXIS 12253 (3d Cir., June 22). Plaintiff Shirley McLeod, who had been receiving treatment for a variety of illnesses beginning in 1997, […]
The definition of disability in an ERISA case should take into account the specific duties of the claimant.
Claims involving sicknesses such as fibromyalgia, a condition for which medical science has yet to develop a laboratory test, can be challenging both for claimants and insurers. A recent decision from Minnesota, which followed a ruling from our 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, is very instructive, though, on the adjudication of such claims.