If an insured is making a claim under a disability insurance policy that he or she is unable to perform the duties of their occupation, does the policy require a showing that the claimant is unable to perform all of the job duties or is a showing of an inability to perform any material job […]
A recent federal court ruling in Michigan outlined the scope of a provision in the Employee Retirement Income Security Act that exempts “church plans” from being subject to Employee Retirement Income Security Act funding and reporting requirements. In Overall v. Ascension, 2014 WL 1908428, 2014 U.S.Dist.LEXIS 65418 (E.D.Mich. May 13, 2014), the plaintiff brought a […]
Both the Internal Revenue Code and the Employee Retirement Income Security Act have rules that prevent assignments of retirement benefits in order to ensure that retirees actually receive the benefits that they were promised. ERISA flatly states that “each pension plan” must provide that benefits under the plan cannot be “assigned or alienated.” There are […]
That question was answered in the affirmative in Yasko v. Reliance Standard Life Ins.Co., 2014 U.S.Dist.LEXIS 88469 (N.D.Ill. June 30, 2014), a case involving accidental death insurance that was litigated by DeBofsky, Sherman & Casciari. See, /DeBofsky-Associates-Receives-Favorable-Ruling-in-Accidental-Death-Insurance-Case.shtml. Alan Yasko, a physician, died of a pulmonary embolism shortly after flying from Chicago to a medical conference […]
In Criss v. Union Security Ins.Co., 2014 WL 2707774, 2014 U.S.Dist.LEXIS 79300 (N.D.Ala. June 11, 2014), Judge William Acker, Jr. challenged the current methodology utilized by courts in adjudicating benefit disputes brought under ERISA. The court based its premise on the universally recognized legal maxim, nemo judex in causa sua; i.e., “No man should be […]
DeBofsky & Associates recently won an attorney fee award in an ERISA case.
Disputes over life insurance often lead to unintended consequences as illustrated by Hall v. Metropolitan Life Insurance Co., 2014 U.S.App.LEXIS 8652 (8th Cir. May 8, 2014), which involved the designation of a beneficiary. In Hall, the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that someone other than the intended beneficiary was entitled to receive employer-sponsored […]
DeBofsky & Associates recently partnered with United Policyholders on an amicus brief in the high-profile ERISA case of Rochow v. Life Insurance Company of North America.
In evaluating disability insurance claims, determining the insured’s pre-disability occupation is often a complicated task. Many individuals derive their income from a variety of sources; and courts use two primary approaches in determining whether a person is disabled from performing their own occupation as the following discussion of a recent court ruling decided by a […]
In Gordon v. Deloitte & Touche LLP Group Long Term Disability Plan, 2014 U.S.App.LEXIS 6688 (9th Cir. April 11, 2014), the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals was called upon to decide the question of whether an expired limitations period may be revived by insurer’s conduct after the time for bringing suit had ended.
Most group disability insurance policies limit the duration of benefit payments for mental impairments. An interesting ruling out of Pennsylvania focuses on what constitutes a “mental impairment.” In Berkoben v. Aetna Life Insurance Co., 2014 U.S.Dist.LEXIS 39385 (W.D.Pa., Feb. 21), a magistrate judge’s report and recommendation, the court recommended overturning Aetna’s termination of benefits based […]
In Cerone v. Reliance Standard Life Ins.Co., 2014 U.S.Dist.LEXIS 46529 (S.D.Cal. March 28, 2014), after the plaintiff’s accidental death claim based on the death of her husband was denied and her appeal exhausted, Debra Cerone filed suit against Reliance Standard Life Insurance Company. The issue decided in this opinion was whether the de novo or abuse of discretion standard of review applied.