O’Connor v. Metropolitan Life Insurance Company

DeBofsky Law is proud to announce another significant victory for disability claimants.

O’Connor v. Metropolitan Life Insurance Company Case Overview

Cheryl O’Connor built a career of more than 25 years in marketing, business development, and client management, most recently serving as a senior director at a technology company. In 2021, she experienced sudden hearing loss in her left ear, along with tinnitus and cognitive difficulties that made her demanding, executive-level role impossible to perform. She stopped working and filed a claim under her employer’s group disability plan. MetLife approved her long-term disability benefits and paid them for two years. When the plan’s definition of disability changed to the stricter “any occupation” standard, MetLife terminated her benefits, concluding that a cochlear implant had restored her hearing and that she had no cognitive impairment that would keep her from working.

Legal Challenge and Court Findings

DeBofsky Law challenged the termination in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. Reviewing the claim de novo, without deference to MetLife’s decision, the court ruled in Ms. O’Connor’s favor and identified several problems with the insurer’s denial:

• The cochlear implant improved Ms. O’Connor’s hearing, but it did not resolve the cognitive deficits caused by her sudden, one-sided hearing loss.
• Those cognitive difficulties, including trouble processing spoken and written information, multitasking, and sustaining focus, left her unable to perform executive-level work.
• The court gave greater weight to the providers who treated and examined Ms. O’Connor than to MetLife’s reviewers, most of whom never met her and several of whom declined to address her cognitive condition.
• The court accepted her Social Security disability award as further evidence that she was disabled.
• MetLife could not defend the termination on a theory it never raised during the claim, including its late argument about workplace accommodations.

The court concluded that Ms. O’Connor remained disabled under the plan’s “any occupation” standard and that MetLife had wrongly terminated her benefits.

Impact of the O’Connor v. MetLife Disability Case Ruling

This decision reinforces that a disability insurer must consider how a medical condition affects a person’s actual ability to do her job, not just how she performs on isolated tests in a controlled setting. It confirms that when hearing loss produces cognitive difficulties, an insurer cannot treat improved hearing as proof that a claimant can return to high-level work. For claimants whose conditions do not appear on a single definitive test, the ruling underscores the value of detailed evidence from the providers who know them best.

Read the Full Court Decision (PDF)

Shareholder Mark DeBofsky represented the client. For individuals whose disability benefits have been wrongfully denied or terminated, O’Connor v. MetLife is a reminder that claimants have legal rights and that insurers must follow ERISA’s standards. DeBofsky Law remains committed to advocating for disability claimants and helping them receive the benefits they deserve. If your disability benefits have been wrongfully denied, contact DeBofsky Law today to discuss your case.