Many disability insurance policies require a showing of an inability to perform each and every regular job duty. Does that mean you can’t be considered disabled if you are unable to perform some but not all of the required job duties? In most jurisdictions, the answer is yes – you need not prove an inability […]
In reviewing disability determinations, a number of problematic issues appear with relative frequency. The recently issued ruling in Groth v. Centurylink Disability Plan, 2016 WL 1621724 (S.D. Ohio, April 25, 2016), contains a potpourri of such issues. Plaintiff Stacie Groth claimed she was disabled due to lumbar degenerative disk disease, fibromyalgia, depression and anxiety. Despite […]
Because federal courts generally consider the scope of their review of an ERISA benefit denial as being limited to review of a record, what happens if significant material evidence such as a Social Security determination becomes available only after the claim appeals are exhausted. If the standard of judicial review is arbitrary and capricious, it […]
A recent ruling from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, Zuke v. American Airlines, Inc., 2016 WL 1258220 (6th Cir. March 31, 2016)(unpublished), was extremely critical of an insurer’s termination of disability payments that had been ongoing for thirteen years due to the claimant’s severe degenerative arthritis of the claimant’s entire spine.
Most disability benefit claim decisions focus on medical issues and often overlook the equally critical need to perform an accurate vocational evaluation. The recent case of Mackey v. Liberty Life Assurance Company of Boston, 2016 WL 915271 (W.D. Ark., March 7), is a singular exception. This case involved Brenda Mackey, a former registered nurse who […]
A recent case involving the FedEx disability program, Mason v. Federal Express Corp., 2016 WL 706163 (D. Alaska February 22, 2016), illustrated how exposure of conflicts of interest in a claim determination affects a court’s review of the evidence. The case involved Maurice Mason, a FedEx employee who suffered from an auto-immune disorder known as […]