Adam V. Russo | July 9, 2010
Sandra Chronister was employed as a nurse at Baptist Health in Arkansas. In 1995, she was injured in a car accident, and thereafter sought disability benefits under Baptist Health’s long-term disability plan, which was insured and administered by Unum Life Insurance Co. of America. Unum initially granted her application for disability benefits. At Unum’s urging, [...]
Adam V. Russo | July 9, 2010
In light of the Supreme Court’s decision in Glenn, the Second Circuit has reassessed its standard of review governing cases that challenge an ERISA plan administrator’s decision to deny disability benefits in cases where the administrator has a conflict of interest because it has the discretionary authority to determine the validity of the employee’s claim [...]
Adam V. Russo | January 29, 2010
January 22, 2010 (PLANSPONSOR.com) – A federal court has refused to dismiss a claim by a Jersey Construction employee that he was fired for pursuing health benefits for his wife’s chemotherapy.
The U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey said it found that Christian Pailleret stated sufficient facts to support a prima facie case [...]
Adam V. Russo | August 28, 2009
From the August 20, 2009 EBIA Weekly[Fischer v. Liberty Life Assurance Co. of Boston, 2009 WL 2366115 (7th Cir. 2009); Raybourne v. Cigna Life Ins. Co. of N.Y., 2009 WL 2392788 (7th Cir. 2009)]
The Seventh Circuit has decided a pair of LTD benefit cases that consider the impact of the U.S. Supreme Court’s Glenn decision. [...]
Adam V. Russo | August 19, 2009
The number of cases that apply the Supreme Court’s opinion in Metropolitan Life Insurance Company v. Glenn, 128 S. Ct. 2343 (2008) , when reviewing a decision to deny employee benefits by an administrator with a conflict of interest, continue to grow. The most recent example is Raybourne v. Cigna Life Insurance Company of New [...]
Adam V. Russo | May 13, 2009
The Ninth Circuit provided significant guidance for the district court to consider regarding a conflict of interest involving self-funded plans in Burke w. Pitney Bowes Inc. Long-Term Disability Plan 544 F.3d 1016 (9th Cir. 2008). While the district court ruled in favor of the plan, it reached its decision prior to the Supreme Court’s decision [...]
