A recent appellate court ruling illustrated a serious problem that partially or residually disabled individuals face – what happens if their earnings temporarily exceed the maximum amount that may still be earned in order to be considered partially/residually disabled. In Safdi v. Covered Employer’s Long Term Disability Plan Under the Union Central Employee Security Benefit […]
Pension plans consist of contractual promises made by employers to reward employees for their faithful and devoted service and also serve as a retention incentive to encourage employees to remain with their employers. However, the traditional defined benefit pension plan that promises a monthly lifetime annuity to workers and their spouses has been rapidly disappearing, […]
Pain is often a key factor in disability claims. The Social Security Administration has established guidelines for the assessment of pain as a factor in determining disability (20 C.F.R. Section 404.1529), and the influential Guides to the Evaluation of Permanent Impairment (6th edition 2008) published by the American Medical Association looks to the following: Congruence […]
The Department of Labor has proposed new regulations for disability benefit claims that will provide better protections for claimants.
The standard of judicial review utilized in cases brought under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) is critical and may even be outcome-determinative. The parties often vehemently assert their positions in litigation, with the plaintiffs strenuously claiming the right to a de novo standard of judicial review, while the defendants argue just as forcefully for a deferential standard.
A recent ruling issued by a federal court in Philadelphia illustrated a number of issues relevant to disability insurance claims brought under ERISA. In Charles v. UPS Long Term Disability Plan, 2015 WL 6600399 (E.D. Pa. October 29, 2015), after first finding the plaintiff was limited to part time work and thus unable to work […]
Although the ERISA law generally preempts state law causes of action that relate to claims for employee benefits, a recent federal court ruling from California Dale v. Reed Group, Ltd., 2015 WL 6954915 (N.D. Cal. November 10, 2015), permitted an exception to that general rule. Ed Dale, an employee of Intel Corporation who became disabled, […]
Courts strive to enforce the terms of benefit plans in order to ensure their efficient operation.However, there are times when the provisions of benefit plans make no sense under the circumstances; and Waskiewicz v. Unicare Life and Health Ins. Co., 2015 WL 5751585 (6th Cir. October 2, 2015) illustrates one of those circumstances. In Waskiewicz, […]
In most situations, litigants must sue and be sued using their real names, even in sensitive matters. A recent ruling, however, catalogued circumstances under which a litigant may bring suit under a pseudonym. In Doe v. Standard Ins. Co., 2015 WL 5778566 (D. Maine October 2, 2015), the court stated the general rule, but then […]
Although death and taxes are both viewed as inevitabilities, when it comes to disability insurance benefits, taxes may be avoidable.
According to Revenue Ruling 2004-55 (June 28, 2004), long-term disability insurance premiums paid on an after-tax basis result in a non-taxable benefit. Hence, many employers structure their group long-term disability benefit plans in that manner to provide a nontaxable benefit to their employees in the event they become disabled.
The Supreme Court will hear a case questioning the timeline for ERISA cases involving a fiduciary’s duty to monitor investments. SCOTUS, or the Supreme Court of the United States, has agreed to hear a case that questions the extent of an employer’s fiduciary duty to monitor the ERISA plans they sponsor. ERISA, or the Employee […]
The Employee Retirement Income Security Act is so pervasive in its scope that it broadly pre-empts all state laws that relate to employee benefit plans. However, ERISA pre-emption is extremely complex, and it has provoked more than a dozen Supreme Court cases that have examined the breadth of ERISA pre-emption in a number of ways. […]