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Mealey's Disability Insurance

  • October 27, 2025

    5th Circuit Argument Set In Appeal Of Fees Award To NFL Disability Claimant

    NEW ORLEANS — The Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals has scheduled Dec. 3 oral argument in an Employee Retirement Income Security Act appeal where the Bert Bell/Pete Rozelle NFL Player Retirement Plan challenges an award of more than $1.25 million in attorney fees and costs to a former National Football League player who sought a higher level of disability benefits than he had been awarded, and the former player counters that the issue “was forfeited long ago.”

  • October 17, 2025

    Partly Revived COVID Risk Disability Case Is Dismissed Per Joint Stipulation

    FRESNO, Calif. — A disability case in which the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals revived a breach of contract claim has been dismissed with prejudice by a California federal magistrate judge pursuant to a joint stipulation; an oral surgeon filed the suit after unsuccessfully seeking disability benefits on the grounds that his comorbid conditions and inability to access recommended personal protective equipment (PPE) made it necessary to close his practice early in the COVID-19 pandemic.

  • October 14, 2025

    Alabama High Court Reverses Dismissal Of Firefighter’s Ordinary Disability Claim

    MONTGOMERY, Ala. — Ruling on a firefighter’s request for review of his unsuccessful disability claims, the Alabama Supreme Court partly reversed and remanded because the allegations in his mandamus petition “indicate that there is at least a possibility that he could prevail” on his claim that he is entitled to ordinary disability benefits because he developed hypertension during his employment.

  • October 14, 2025

    Indiana Appeals Court Affirms Ruling Against Former Trooper In LTD Benefits Case

    INDIANAPOLIS — Affirming a ruling against the appellant, an Indiana appeals panelagreed with the Indiana State Police (ISP) that a former state trooper lost his entitlement to long-term disability (LTD) benefits upon assuming full-time elected office.

  • October 10, 2025

    After Fees Award, LTD Insurer Drops Appeal Of Ruling That Doctor Is Due Benefits

    PHILADELPHIA — Weeks after the plaintiff in a long-term disability (LTD) benefits case was awarded reduced attorney fees of $117,297.50 by the trial court, the Third Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals dismissed the insurer’s appeal pursuant to a joint stipulation.

  • October 09, 2025

    Judge Upholds Ending Of LTD Benefits, Rules That Emails Were Privileged

    MILWAUKEE — Concluding in part that the plaintiff didn’t show that the fiduciary exception to attorney-client privilege applies, a Wisconsin federal judge upheld termination of long-term disability (LTD) benefits in a case that involved disputes regarding the duties of the claimant’s “regular occupation” as a customer service representative who worked remotely.

  • October 08, 2025

    New York Federal Judge Upholds Denial Of Attorney’s Claim For LTD Benefits

    NEW YORK — Saying that the determination at issue was “based on the objective evidence of doctors and psychologists,” a New York federal judge upheld denial of long-term disability (LTD) benefits for a corporate finance attorney who claimed that she became unable to do her job after her vehicle was rear-ended at a traffic light.

  • October 08, 2025

    Disability Case Involving Brain Injury Is Remanded For Vocational Analysis

    SAN FRANCISCO — On de novo review of a case challenging termination of long-term disability (LTD) benefits under an any-occupation standard, a California federal magistrate judge found that “the medical evidence does not establish that Plaintiff is unable to enter the workforce” but that vocational evidence is needed to determine whether the claimant is disabled under the plan terms.

  • October 03, 2025

    LTD Claimant’s Bid To Supplement Record Under Vega Is Denied

    LAFAYETTE, La. — Rejecting the plaintiff’s reliance on Vega v. Nat'l Life Ins. Servs., a Louisiana federal judge denied her attempt to supplement the record in her suit over termination of long-term disability (LTD) benefits with documents she tried to submit to the insurer months after it had closed the administrative appeal she had filed pro se.

  • October 02, 2025

    Judge Rules For Insurer That Cut Off LTD Benefits Under Any-Occupation Standard

    WILMINGTON, Del. — Upholding termination of long-term disability (LTD) benefits under an any-occupation standard for a claimant who has multiple sclerosis (MS) and chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyradiculoneuropathy (CIDP), a Delaware federal judge said in part that a final determination by independent appeal evaluator IMEDECS is not new evidence.

  • September 29, 2025

    Disability Insurer Wins Breach Of Contract Case Under South Carolina Law

    SPARTANBURG, S.C. — Applying South Carolina law, a South Carolina federal judge ruled that a disability insurer is entitled to judgment because a physician who attempted to claim benefits nearly seven years after the onset of his alleged disability didn’t sufficiently allege compliance with notice and proof of loss requirements.

  • September 25, 2025

    Former CEO Wins Retroactive LTD Benefits In Case Involving Occupational Duties

    CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. — Finding in part that the former leader of a software company sufficiently showed “that the important duties of the average CEO include working sixty hours a week or more with frequent travel,” a Tennessee federal judge on Sept. 24 ordered that his long-term disability (LTD) benefits be reinstated retroactively through March 2021.

  • September 25, 2025

    LTD Insurer Wins On Setoff, But Claimant Gets Attorney Fees Of Over $460K

    NEW YORK — After a second bench trial on the stipulated record in a case challenging termination of long-term disability (LTD) benefits, a New York federal judge resolved calculation issues largely in favor of the insurer and resolved an attorney fee dispute in favor of the claimant.

  • September 23, 2025

    Claimant With Back Pain Is Due LTD Benefits Under ‘Regular Occupation’ Standard

    EUGENE, Ore. — Saying in part that reviewers “discredited Plaintiff’s subjective symptom testimony of chronic pain in contradiction to objective medical evidence in the record without providing a reasonable explanation,” an Oregon federal judge ruled that a desk worker was entitled to benefits during the plan’s “regular occupation” period but that the question of whether she was disabled under the subsequent “any occupation” period “is not properly before the court.”

  • September 23, 2025

    Magistrate Judge OKs Attorney Fees In Case Where She Ordered LTD Claim Remanded

    SAN FRANCISCO — Saying in part that the balance of the considerations outlined in Hummell v. S.E. Rykoff & Co. supports the request, a California federal magistrate judge granted the requested $139,770 in attorney fees and costs in a long-term disability (LTD) case where she previously concluded “that the plan did not follow the administrative rules or apply the correct plan definition” and remanded “without ordering reinstatement of the policy or an award of retroactive payments.”

  • September 19, 2025

    LTD Claimant Urges 1st Circuit To Reverse Ruling That Hinges On ‘Working’

    BOSTON — Arguing in part that a long-term disability (LTD) plan’s use of “working” is ambiguous and therefore must be construed in his favor, an independent financial adviser filed an appellant brief urging the First Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals to reverse summary judgment against him, to order that his benefits be reinstated and to award him interest and attorney fees and costs.

  • September 17, 2025

    Panel Rehearing Bid Fails In LTD Benefits Dispute Involving Jury Verdict

    ATLANTA — In a per curiam order issued without explanation in a dispute where a federal jury sided with a long-term disability (LTD) insurer, the 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals denied a petition for panel rehearing, letting stand its ruling vacating a judgment of nearly $450,000 for the insurer on its unjust enrichment claim but upholding dismissal of a breach of contract counterclaim.

  • September 17, 2025

    Anticutback, Fiduciary Breach Claims Are Dismissed In Disability Benefits Case

    CHICAGO — Saying in part that he rejected an “attempt to shift gears and do an about face,” an Illinois federal judge dismissed two claims in an Employee Retirement Income Security Act challenge to a multiemployer benefit plan amendment under which the end of a Social Security Administration (SSA) disability award results in termination of disability pension benefits.

  • September 16, 2025

    Federal Judge Reduces Fees Insurer Must Pay In LTD Case To Just Over $314,000

    MINNEAPOLIS — Saying in part “that counsel claims quite a large number of hours for tasks that likely could and should have taken less time,” a Minnesota federal judge who ordered that a long-term disability (LTD) claimant be paid a total of $741,085.31 in retroactive benefits and prejudgment interest also granted reduced attorney fees of $314,440.29 and reduced costs of $2,698.15.

  • September 11, 2025

    Judge: Specific Diagnosis Not Required To Prove Disability Under Plan Terms

    ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Saying in part that the Employee Retirement Income Security Act “does not require that a plaintiff show a particular etiology to prove they are disabled,” a Michigan federal judge dismissed breach of contract claims but otherwise ruled in favor of a pediatric dermatologist who challenged termination of her long-term disability (LTD) and residual disability benefits.

  • September 10, 2025

    Judge: Integration Brought Owners-Only LTD Policy Under ERISA

    SAN JOSE, Calif. — Dismissing bad faith and breach of contract claims that a PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP (PwC) equity owner who unsuccessfully sought long-term disability (LTD) benefits because of symptoms he attributed to long COVID asserted under California law, a California federal judge concluded that when “an employer integrates a pre-existing” policy that is not governed by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act “into a broader ERISA-governed plan, the non-ERISA policy becomes a part of the ERISA plan and is subject to the requirements and preemptive effect of ERISA.”

  • September 10, 2025

    LTD Claimant Urges 11th Circuit To Reverse Summary Judgment In Tax Returns Row

    ATLANTA — Urging the 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals to take the position outlined in a report and recommendation that the lower court declined to adopt, a deaf engineer who received long-term disability (LTD) benefits for about a decade before they were terminated due to his refusal to provide personal tax returns argues in part that the insurer isn’t entitled to interpret the term “work” because it is not ambiguous.

  • September 10, 2025

    Insurer Faulted For Terminating LTD Benefits In Case Involving Fatigue, COVID

    TRENTON, N.J. — Citing “procedural irregularities and substantive errors” in an insurer’s handling of a long-term disability (LTD) claim for an individual whose diagnoses include myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) and long COVID, a New Jersey federal judge issued an unpublished opinion directing that the claimant receive about seven months of retroactive benefits and that her claim be remanded for a determination as to whether she remained eligible after her administrative appeal was denied.

  • September 08, 2025

    8th Circuit Affirms Ruling Against Short-Term Disability Claimant

    ST. LOUIS — The Eighth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on Sept. 5 briefly affirmed summary judgment against a short-term disability (STD) claimant in an unpublished per curiam opinion, saying in part that the insurer “did not abuse its discretion by relying on the opinions of its nurse consultants over those of [claimant Monty] Jones’s counselor” and was not “required to provide an independent medical examination (IME) of Jones before deciding his claim.”

  • September 04, 2025

    Review Standard Is Focus Of 2nd Circuit Briefing In Appeal Of LTD Benefits Denial

    NEW YORK — Standard of review is the sole issue in a Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals challenge to a ruling upholding denial of long-term disability (LTD) benefits, with the insurer arguing in its answering brief first that it had discretionary authority under the plan and second that there are no grounds to disregard that grant because it complied with claim regulations.