Does a co-morbid psychiatric impairment allow a disability insurer to invoke a policy limitation limiting the duration of benefit payments for psychiatric conditions?
The lesson taught by Okuno v. Reliance Standard Life Ins. Co., 2016 WL 4655741 (6th Cir. September 7, 2016), is that the answer to the question posed by the title of this blog is a resounding NO. The case involved a former art director for a clothing company who became disabled on account of Crohn’s […]
Insurers must evaluate cognitive/mental demands of an occupation
DeBofsky, Sherman & Casciari attorneys Mark DeBofsky and Martina Sherman recently won the case of Wonsowski v. United of Omaha Life Ins. Co., 2016 WL 3088141 (N.D. Ill. June 2, 2016) following a bench trial before Magistrate Judge Geraldine Soat Brown in the federal court in Chicago. The case involved Shellie Wonsowski, who had worked […]
How to interpret the “each and every duty” requirement in a disability insurance policy
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 […]
One disability claim case brings several common themes together
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 […]
Court casts questioning eye on whether doctors’ review was fair, independent
Two lessons taught by a recently decided case from Indiana are that insurers need to fairly and independently assess disability claims and must consider the co-morbidity of multiple physical and psychological impairments.