One of the most vexing issues in employee benefits law relates to the apparent absence of remedies when harm results from misrepresentations made to employees since Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) only permits “appropriate equitable relief” (29 U.S.C. § 1132(a)(3)) and bars claims seeking legal remedies such as monetary damages. A leading example of […]
In order to prevent a double-recovery of benefits when claimants qualify to receive both Social Security and disability insurance payments, most group insurers include provisions in their policies that reduce the insurance payment by the amount of Social Security benefits received by the claimant. In addition, since Social Security adjudications often follow the disability insurance […]
Patent law is not ordinarily the place an ERISA practitioner would look to gain insight concerning ERISA civil procedure. However, in a recent patent ruling issued by the Supreme Court, Kappos v. Hyatt, 132 S. Ct. 1690 (April 18, 2012), the Court presented fodder for rethinking the manner in which ERISA cases are adjudicated. Kappos […]
A recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling involving patent law may revive procedural challenges to the means by which Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) cases are adjudicated. In Kappos v. Hyatt, 2012 U.S.LEXIS 3107 (U.S.S.Ct. April 18, 2012), the Supreme Court examined a provision of the Patent Act of 1952 enabling a patent applicant whose […]
Due to the quasi-administrative law paradigm the courts apply in Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) cases, no issue has confounded the courts more than the scope of permitted discovery. In Wise v. Life Ins.Co. of North America, 2012 U.S.Dist.LEXIS 50231 (C.D.Ill. April 10, 2012), the plaintiff, Linda Wise, sought accidental death benefits under an ERISA plan sponsored by her late husband’s employer, Honeywell International Inc. The plan was underwritten and insured by the Life Insurance Company of North America (LINA), a CIGNA company.
A court recently found that Liberty Life Assurance Company of Boston made a decision “apparently devoid of reasoning” in denying a claim for disability benefits under a long-term disability policy. In Yost v. Liberty Life Assurance Co. of Boston, 6:19-CV-1132, 2021 WL 2263017 (M.D. Fla. June 3, 2021), the plaintiff, a nurse anesthetist, filed a lawsuit after Liberty denied her claim.