Insurance Company Bias in ERISA Cases: Hartford’s History of Bias and Discovery of an Insurer’s Biased Claims Administration Process
September 26, 2018 McKennon Law Group PCThe Employee Retirement Income Security Act (“ERISA”), a 1974 federal law, sets minimum standards for many employee benefit plans and serves to provide protection for individuals in these plans. Discovery in ERISA cases is often limited because the statute’s primary goal is to provide inexpensive and expeditious resolution to employee benefit claims. District courts are generally limited to the administrative record unless a so-called structural conflict of interest exists. Considering that insurers make benefit determinations on life, health and disability insurance claims and profit when an adverse decision is made, this scenario creates an inherent conflict of interest whenever an insurer administers a claim.
Courts find that a conflict of interest exists where the “entity that administers the plan, such …
When Guarding the Henhouse, Some Foxes Go Rogue: When an Insurer’s Conflict of Interest Factors into Administrating Group Long-Term Disability ERISA Plans
July 25, 2018 McKennon Law Group PCFew Americans can retire on their savings alone. Many workers participate in an employee benefits plans, which serve to provide financial security in case of disability or retirement. In the case of insurers that decide who qualifies for life, health and disability insurance benefits, there exists a major concern about the significant conflict of interest that exists when these insurers make these decisions and also pay for these benefits. Will these insurers exalt their own interests of bottom line profitability over the interests of ERISA plan participants and beneficiaries who file claims for life, health and disability benefits? It is not a leap of logic that this conflict of interest results in insurance companies wrongfully denying ERISA benefit claims.
In …
Ninth Circuit Affirms MLG’s Six-Figure Judgment in a Disability Suit Filed Against Sun Life
April 29, 2015 Robert McKennonOn April 22, 2015, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit issued a decision affirming the district court’s decision to award McKennon Law Group PC’s client, an attorney (“insured”), his past-due ERISA plan benefits, as well as attorneys’ fees, costs and interest against Sun Life & Health Insurance Company in connection with his short-term and long-term disability insurance claim. …
Third-Party ERISA Administrator Abused Discretion by Denying Medical Coverage: A Tale of What Not to Do
September 16, 2014 Iris ChouSometimes an administrator so unashamedly abuses its discretion in handling an insurance claim that its actions constitute a textbook example of “what not to do” for other administrators and the ensuing decision provides a clear illustration of how courts apply an abuse of discretion standard of review under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (“ERISA”). Indeed, a recent case clarified that plan administrators and third-party claims administrators alike are held to comparable standards when issuing claims decisions. In Pacific Shores Hospital v. United Behavioral Health, 2014 WL 4086784; 2014 U.S. App. LEXIS 16062 (9th Cir. Cal. Aug. 20, 2014) (“Pacific Shores”) the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeal reversed the district court, finding the third-party administrator acted improperly by denying …
McKennon Law Group Wins Disability Insurance Lawsuit Against Sun Life And Health Insurance Company Following Trial
December 11, 2012 Scott CalvertOn November 27, 2012, following a trial before Judge Cormac J. Carney of the United States Federal District Court for the Central District of California, Robert J. McKennon and Scott E. Calvert of the McKennon Law Group secured a victory for their client in a lawsuit against Sun Life and Health Insurance Company. Representing the claimant, Mr. Evans, the McKennon Law Group convinced the District Court that Sun Life abused its discretion in denying Mr. Evans’ claim for long-term disability benefits and that Mr. Evans is entitled to receive his disability benefits that Sun Life denied him.…
Under ERISA, Communications with In-House Counsel Before a Final Claims Decision are Not Privileged and are Subject to Discovery to Show a Conflict of Interest
September 20, 2012 Scott CalvertAre insureds entitled to communications between an insurance company’s in-house counsel and the claims handlers that might otherwise be protected by the attorney-client privilege? Following a new ruling by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, if the claimant is insured under an ERISA plan, the answer might be “yes.”
For decades, courts, including the Ninth Circuit, have recognized a “fiduciary exception” to the attorney-client privilege in the context of ERISA. Courts have required production of legal advice given to plan fiduciaries when they are acting as fiduciaries for the benefit of the beneficiaries. This “fiduciary exception” has however been subject to exceptions.…
Exhaustion of Administrative Remedies Under ERISA Not Required If Exhaustion Would Have Been Futile
April 27, 2011 Robert McKennonTerrance Burnett was eligible for short-term disability (“STD”) benefits and long-term disability (“LTD”) benefits through employee welfare benefit plans funded by his employer, The Raytheon Company, and administered by Metropolitan Life Insurance Company (“MetLife”). After his doctors stated that Burnett’s psychiatric condition prevented him from performing his job duties, he filed a claim for STD benefits. While, MetLife denied his claim for STD benefits, in Burnett v. Raytheon Co. Short Term Disability Basic Benefit Plan, 2011 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 40725 (C.D. Cal. Apr. 14, 2011), Judge Dolly Gee ruled that MetLife abused its discretion when it denied Burnett’s claim, and awarded him the STD benefits he sought. In addition, the court held that Burnett was eligible for some LTD …
District Court Applies Abuse of Discretion Standard of Review After Montour
January 14, 2010 Robert McKennonRecently, in Montour v. Harford Life & Accident, 582 F.3d 933 (9th Cir. 2009), the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, in one of its most important cases, adopted a new standard of reviewing ERISA abuse of discretion cases where the insurer has a conflict of interest. The court held that a “modicum of evidence in the record supporting the administrator’s decision will not alone suffice in the face of such a conflict, since this more traditional application of the abuse of discretion standard allowed no room for weighing the extent to which the administrator’s decision may have been motivated by improper considerations.” Further, the court in Montour explained that a reviewing court must also take into account the administrator’s …
"Top Hat" ERISA Plans Are Not Entitled To Special Treatment
January 14, 2010 Robert McKennonThe Ninth Circuit recently addressed, for the first time, whether the standard of review analysis for “top hat” ERISA plans is the same as for other ERISA plans. In Sznewajs v. U.S. Bancorp Amended and Restated Supplemental Benefits Plan, 572 F.3d 727 (9th Cir. 2009), Franciene Sznewajs, the ex-wife of co-defendant Robert Sznewajs, challenged the Plan’s decision to treat Robert Sznewajs’ second wife, Virginia Sznewajs, as his surviving beneficiary. The Plan Administrator denied Franciene’s claim for benefits because it interpreted Robert’s “retirement” to have occurred when Robert started collecting benefits. Franciene argued that “retirement” meant the date of Robert’s termination of employment. The issues on appeal were the appropriate standard of review and the definition of retirement under the Plan.
The …
Ninth Circuit Clarifies Application of Abuse of Discretion Review When Insurer Has a Conflict of Interest
January 14, 2010 Robert McKennonAfter the United States Supreme Court decided MetLife Ins. Co. v. Glenn in which the Court held that a reviewing court must consider the conflict of interest arising from the dual role of an insurer acting as a plan administrator and payor of plan benefits as a factor in determining whether the insurer abused its discretion in denying benefits, several courts have struggled with this standard. The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals clarified how courts within the Ninth Circuit will apply this standard in Montour v. Hartford Life & Accident, 582 F.3d 933 (9th Cir. 2009). In Montour, the court adopted a new standard of reviewing ERISA abuse of discretion cases where the insurer has a conflict of …
