Conflict of interest in the administration of benefit claims is a topic that has long concerned Judge William Acker Jr. of the Northern District of Alabama. Blankenship v. Metropolitan Life Insurance Co., Civ. No. 08-AR-0639-S (N.D. Ala., Dec. 30) is merely the latest in a series of rulings critical of the manner in which courts have treated ERISA cases.
The arbitrary and capricious standard of review gives employers such broad discretion to interpret benefit plan provisions that a literal reading of the plan can be overridden according to Wallace v. Johnson & Johnson, 2009 U.S.App.LEXIS 22529 (1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, Oct. 14). Wallace, who spent 14 years as a manager with Johnson […]
Functional capacity evaluations are frequently used in disability insurance evaluations. While some courts have deemed such testing reliable, Alfano v. Cigna Life Ins.Co. of N.Y., 2009 U.S.Dist.LEXIS 7688 (S.D.N.Y. Jan. 30), offers an object lesson as to why courts need to be careful in assessing such tests. The plaintiff in Alfano worked in an administrative […]