The question of whether an insurer has a duty to investigate the legitimacy of evidence submitted by a spurned intimate acquaintance was presented in the recently decided case of Truitt v. Unum Life Ins. Co. of Amer., 2013 U.S.App.LEXIS 18639 (5th Cir. Sept. 6, 2013). The plaintiff, Terri Truitt, had worked as an attorney in […]
Disability claims involving chronic fatigue syndrome and fibromyalgia are difficult to assess because the symptoms are self-reported and cannot be objectively verified. However, in Schnoor v. Walgreen Income Protection Plan, 2013 U.S.Dist.LEXIS 114435 (W.D.Mich. Aug. 14, 2013), the court had no difficulty seeing through a deficient claim evaluation, despite the broad deference given to the […]
Despite advances in medical science, many medical conditions such as tinnitus – a ringing or buzzing in the ears that afflicts millions of Americans – cannot be objectively diagnosed or verified. The case of Miles v. Principal Life Ins.Co., 2013 U.S.App.LEXIS 13065 (2nd Cir. June 26, 2013), which involved a partner in a major law […]
The Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals recently ruled that vitamin supplements do not qualify as medical treatment for purposes of a disability claim.
The main lesson taught by a recent federal court ruling issued in Florida, Wilson v. Walgreen Income Protection Plan, 2013 U.S.Dist.LEXIS 62021 (M.D.Fla. April 29, 2013), is that the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) imposes duties of good faith and fair dealing that preclude deceptive and unreasonable claim handling tactics. The plaintiff, Deborah Wilson, […]
Woody Allen is quoted as saying that 80 percent of life is just showing up. That was the lesson taught by Neaton v. Hartford Life and Acc.Ins.Co., 2013 U.S.App.LEXIS 5814 (6th Cir. March 21, 2013)(non-precedential) which focused on James Neaton’s absences from work while recovering from multiple surgeries. Neaton, who worked as a debt collector, […]