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Mealey's Disability Insurance

  • March 07, 2025

    Disability Claimant Awarded $241K In Attorney Fees Based On Success On Appeal

    PITTSBURGH — A disability claimant is entitled to attorney fees of $241,746 and costs of $8,277, a Pennsylvania federal judge said after determining that the claimant achieved success on the merits of his claim based on the Third Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals’ decision to vacate a summary judgment ruling in favor of the disability plan.

  • March 07, 2025

    California Federal Judge Says Claimant Met Burden Of Proving She Is Disabled

    SANTA ANA, Calif. — A disability claimant is owed more than $81,000 in long-term disability (LTD) benefits and is entitled to future LTD benefits because the claimant met her burden of proving by a preponderance of the evidence that she is disabled from performing the duties of any occupation as a result of ongoing cognitive and physical effects caused by chemotherapy treatment, a California federal judge said in granting judgment in favor of the claimant.

  • March 06, 2025

    Magistrate Recommends Denying Dismissal Bid In Former Surgeon’s Disability Case

    TYLER, Texas — Concluding that several issues raised could not properly be resolved at this stage, a Texas federal magistrate judge recommended denial of a dismissal motion in a suit where a former surgeon seeks long-term disability (LTD) benefits and relief for alleged mishandling of her claim.

  • March 06, 2025

    Federal Judge Affirms Disability Insurer’s Decision In STD, LTD Benefits Row

    LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Granting summary judgment for a disability insurer, a Kentucky federal judge ruled that “substantial evidence” supported termination of short-term disability (STD) benefits and that the claimant didn’t clearly establish the futility of filing a long-term disability (LTD) benefits claim.

  • March 06, 2025

    Disability Insurer Says Judgment Was Proper; Claimant Is Capable Of Sedentary Work

    ATLANTA — A district court’s judgment in favor of a disability insurer was correct because the evidence supports the lower court’s finding that the disability claimant is not disabled from performing the duties of any occupation and is capable of performing sedentary work, the insurer contends in an appellee brief filed in the 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals.

  • March 06, 2025

    Stay Of Mandate Pending Planned Petition Denied In Disability Benefits Suit

    NEW ORLEANS — A Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals judge denied a motion in which a disability claimant and her husband sought to stay a mandate after denial of their request for rehearing in the case where a panel entered an unpublished opinion in favor of a disability insurer; the movants said they plan to petition the U.S. Supreme Court to grant certiorari.

  • March 05, 2025

    11th Circuit Affirms Summary Judgment, Discovery Rulings Against STD Claimant

    ATLANTA — Upholding discovery and summary judgment rulings for a disability insurer in a March 4 unpublished per curiam opinion, an 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel rejected the claimant’s arguments that the lower court “did not properly apply [the appellate court’s] framework for evaluating” claims asserted under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act and should not have denied her request for “discovery outside the administrative record.”

  • March 05, 2025

    Lower Court Properly Found Disability Claimant Failed To Meet Burden, Insurer Says

    CHICAGO — A district court properly found that a disability claimant failed to satisfy her burden of proving that she remained disabled from working in a sedentary occupation as a result of symptoms related to fibromyalgia, a disability insurer says in an appellee brief filed in the Seventh Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals.

  • March 03, 2025

    Choice-Of-Law Ruling Issued In Disability Insurance Suit In Federal Court

    NEW HAVEN, Conn. — Granting an insurer’s motion for partial judgment on the pleadings in a suit challenging the discontinuation of long-term disability (LTD) benefits, a Connecticut federal judge ruled that the “tort, equity, and contract claims under the common law are not governed by California law” and that three California and North Carolina statutory claims fail as a matter of law.

  • February 27, 2025

    9th Circuit Affirms ERISA Preemption Ruling In Disability Benefits Row

    PHOENIX — Affirming judgment for a long-term disability (LTD) insurance provider in an unpublished memorandum disposition, a Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel agreed that the appellant’s agency had established an employee benefits plan governed by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act, so state law claims were preempted.

  • February 27, 2025

    Judge: Disability Pension Fund Didn’t Show Consideration Of All Relevant Evidence

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — Addressing competing summary judgment motions, a District of Columbia federal judge remanded a dispute to a multiemployer disability pension fund, holding that denying a maintenance mechanic’s claim for permanent disability benefits “was not reasonable insofar as the Fund has not shown that it considered all relevant evidence before it.”

  • February 27, 2025

    Fact Issue Precludes Summary Judgment In Disability Claimant’s Favor, Judge Says

    PHOENIX — Summary judgment in favor of a disability claimant on a breach of contract claim is not warranted because the claimant killed his own motion with “factual friendly fire” by introducing evidence that questions whether the disability insurer terminated the claimant’s benefits based on the available medical evidence or purposefully withheld evidence to prevent its reviewing physicians from finding that the claimant remained disabled, an Arizona federal judge said.

  • February 26, 2025

    Substantial Evidence Supports Termination Of Disability Benefits, Panel Says

    NEW YORK — The Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals affirmed a district court’s ruling in favor of a disability insurer, agreeing with the lower court that substantial medical evidence supports the disability insurer’s finding that the claimant is capable of working in a sedentary position.

  • February 26, 2025

    Stay Of Mandate Pending Planned Petition Sought In Disability Benefits Suit

    NEW ORLEANS — Saying they plan to petition the U.S. Supreme Court to grant certiorari in the case where a panel entered an unpublished opinion in favor of a disability insurer, a disability claimant and her husband moved in the Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals to stay a mandate that would otherwise soon follow denial of their request for rehearing.

  • February 24, 2025

    7th Circuit Upholds ‘Thorough’ Ruling Denying Systems Engineer LTD Benefits

    CHICAGO — Affirming a determination that a systems engineer isn’t entitled to long-term disability (LTD) benefits because he didn’t “establish that he is prevented from performing one or more essential duties of his occupation,” a Seventh Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel said in a nonprecedential per curiam disposition that its “independent look at the record” showed “no error, legal or factual.”

  • February 07, 2025

    Corporate Attorney Alleges Disability Insurer Failed To Conduct Full, Fair Review

    LOS ANGELES — A disability insurer failed to conduct a full and fair review of a corporate attorney’s long-term disability (LTD) benefits claim because the insurer failed to address how the attorney’s physical disabilities contributed to her inability to perform her duties as a corporate attorney, the plan participant says in a Feb. 6 complaint filed in California federal court.

  • February 07, 2025

    LTD Benefits Termination Was Not Arbitrary, Capricious, Magistrate Judge Says

    JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — A disability insurer’s termination of a claimant’s long-term disability (LTD) benefits was de novo wrong; however, the termination was not arbitrary and capricious because the disability insurer had reasonable grounds to support its termination of benefits decision, a Florida federal magistrate judge said in recommending that the disability insurer’s motion for summary judgment be granted.

  • February 06, 2025

    Indiana Federal Judge Refuses To Reconsider Evidence Ruling In Disability Dispute

    FORT WAYNE, Ind. — An Indiana federal judge on Feb. 5 denied a disability insurer’s motion for reconsideration, refusing to reconsider a decision granting a disability claimant’s motion to exclude evidence collected after the date on which a long-term disability (LTD) benefits claim was deemed exhausted based on the insurer’s failure to decide the claimant’s appeal within 45 days as required by regulations set forth by the U.S. Department of Labor.

  • February 06, 2025

    Disability Plan Administrator Failed To Conduct Full, Fair Review, Panel Says

    RICHMOND, Va. — The Fourth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals reversed a district court’s ruling in favor of a disability plan and said remand to the plan administrator is necessary because the plan administrator failed to consider evidence submitted by the disability claimant as part of his administrative appeal following the termination of his long-term disability (LTD) benefits.

  • February 06, 2025

    Federal Judge Says Denial Of Disability Benefits Was Not Arbitrary, Capricious

    NEW YORK — A disability insurer’s denial of a long-term disability (LTD) benefits claim was not arbitrary and capricious because the insurer’s denial was supported by substantial evidence and because the insurer provided the disability claimant the opportunity to respond to all evidence collected by the insurer’s medical reviewers, a New York federal judge said in granting judgment in favor of the insurer.

  • February 05, 2025

    Oral Surgeon Says Disability Benefits Owed Based On Danger Of Contracting COVID-19

    SAN FRANCISCO — The Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals should reverse a district court’s ruling in favor of a disability insurer because the lower court erred in failing to acknowledge that an oral surgeon’s return to work would endanger his life and health based on his risk of contracting COVID-19 and suffering complications from the virus based on comorbid conditions of asthma and hypertension, the surgeon says in his appellant reply brief.

  • January 29, 2025

    Disability Income Insurer Properly Interpreted Policy Terms, Panel Says

    BOSTON — A trial court did not err in granting a disability income insurer’s motion for judgment on the pleadings on breach of contract and bad faith claims because the policy clearly defines how monthly benefits will be paid to an insured and how monthly benefits will be paid under the disability insurance policy’s lifetime rider, a Massachusetts Appeals Court panel said in affirming the trial court’s ruling.

  • January 28, 2025

    Lower Court Did Not Commit Reversible Error In Ruling For Disability Insurers

    ATLANTA — The 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals affirmed a district court’s grant of summary judgment in favor of two disability insurers, noting in a three-page unpublished opinion that the lower court did not commit reversible error in entering judgment for the insurers after determining that the doctrine of issue preclusion bars the disability claimant from arguing that he remains disabled under a group disability policy.

  • January 27, 2025

    Disability Claimant Failed To Meet Necessary Heightened Standard, Panel Says

    CINCINNATI — A district court did not err in dismissing a disability claimant’s suit because the claimant failed to meet a heightened standard that is necessary to prevail on an estoppel claim when a plan’s terms are unambiguous, the Sixth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals said in affirming the lower court’s ruling.

  • January 24, 2025

    Any-Occupation Ruling Must Be Reversed, Disability Claimant Tells 11th Circuit

    ATLANTA — A district court’s ruling that a disability insurer’s termination of benefits after 11 years was not arbitrary and capricious must be reversed because the evidence shows that the claimant’s disability worsened and that the insurer’s handling of the medical evidence was unreasonable, a disability claimant tells the 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals in her appellant brief.