After being diagnosed with a latex allergy, Janice Smith (Smith) applied for long-term disability benefits under an employee benefit plan administered by UNUM Life Insurance Company of America (UNUM). UNUM began paying Smith benefits. After twelve months of benefits, the policy's definition of "total disability" changed, requiring UNUM to pay benefits only if Smith is unable to work in any gai

In this appeal, Brent Kamler challenges a grant of summary judgment entered against him on his ERISA-related claims against H/N Telecommunication Services, Inc., formerly known as PAL Telecom Group, Inc. (PAL), PAL Telecom Group, Inc. Employee Welfare Plan (PAL Plan) and Royal & SunAlliance (Royal). This case presents a tangled factual scenario which we will try to untangle as best as we ca

This is a class action under ERISA on behalf of 55 employees terminated when their employer, XTRA, transferred the part of its business in which they worked to ContainerPort. They claim that XTRA's welfare benefits plan entitled them to severance pay even though they were offered the same employment by ContainerPort without a break on essentially the same terms. The district judge granted s

Metropolitan Life Insurance Company (MetLife) appeals the District Court's grant of summary judgment in favor of John A. Jackson on the parties' cross-motions for summary judgment. The District Court overturned MetLife's decision to terminate Jackson's long-term disability (LTD) benefit payments and ordered that the benefits be paid, concluding that MetLife's decision was arbitrary and capricio

Melanie Williams brought this action against Defendants Motorola, Inc., and several individuals. Her Amended Complaint contained thirteen counts and alleged federal claims under the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1985 ("COBRA"), codified at 29 U.S.C. §§ 1160 et seq., the Employment Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 ("ERISA"), codified at 29 U.S.C. §§ 1001 et seq., Title VII

Plaintiffs Mark Fritcher (“Fritcher”) and Country Trust Bank (“the Bank”) sued Defendant Health Care Service Corporation (“HCSC”) for failing to pay benefits that the plaintiffs alleged were due under Fritcher’s employee benefit plan, which HCSC administered. The district court granted the plain-tiffs’ motion for summary judgment, and HCSC appe

UNUM Life Insurance Company of America ("UNUM") appeals the district court's judgment for plaintiff Russann H. Hall. Hall filed suit against UNUM under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act ("ERISA"), 29 U.S.C. §§ 1001­1461, because it terminated her disability benefits. UNUM's principal argument is that the district court improperly considered evidence outside of the administrative record r

Norma Martin asked Arkansas Blue Cross and Blue Shield (the Plan) to certify benefits for a lung transplant pursuant to an ERISA employee welfare benefit plan in which she participated. After the Plan denied benefits, Martin sued, alleging that benefits had been wrongfully denied.

The district court held that a procedural irregularity rendered the Plan's denial unreasonable and ordered the P

Westaff (USA), Inc. appeals the dismissal of its action for reimbursement of medical benefits paid to Betty Arce, and the award of attorney’s fees to Arce, a beneficiary of Westaff’s ERISA employee benefit plan. The issue is whether Westaff could bring this action seeking a money judgment in federal court, despite the provision in ERISA permitting suits only for equitable relief.

This is an action brought by Steven E. Crown against his former employer, Union Pacific Railroad Company. The District Court1 filed a thorough opinion closely analyzing plaintiff's pro se complaint. After considering each of the numerous claims asserted in the complaint, the Court determined that the defendant was entitled to judgment as a matter of law. Judgment was entered dismissing the com

The class action plaintiffs in this case brought their claims under the provisions of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA), 29 U.S.C. §§1001 through 1461.(1) They alleged that their medical benefits insurer, defendant Gem Insurance Company, had wrongfully refused to fully pay certain hospital room and board charges. Specifically, plaintiffs alleged that defendant was liable

In 1995, Elizabeth Rouse successfully petitioned Michigan's Macomb County Circuit Court to retroactively modify her 1984 divorce settlement via a domestic relations order. The order gave Rouse survivorship-benefits in her deceased ex-husband's pension. It also impacted the DaimlerChrysler Corporation UAW Non-Contributory Plan's ("the Plan") obligations under the Employee Retirement Income Security

Defendant-appellee Connecticut General Life Insurance Company ("CGLIC" or "defendant") is the administrator of a group disability insurance policy for the former employer of plaintiff-appellant Cliff Connors ("Connors" or "plaintiff"). In 1995, CGLIC found that Connors was no longer "totally disabled" and thus not entitled to continued benefits under the policy. On de novo review of the administra

Plaintiff Susan Lewis Brooks brought this action in the United States District Court for the District of Connecticut (Eginton, J.) against her former employer, Travelers Insurance Company ("Travelers"), alleging that she was illegally terminated under the Americans with Disabilities Act ("ADA"), the Age Discrimination in Employment Act ("ADEA"), and the Employment Retirement Income Security Act ("

William Reed Smathers brought this suit against Multi- Tool, Inc./Multi-Plastics, Inc. and Multi-Tool, Inc./Multi- Plastics, Inc. Employee Health and Welfare Plan (together "Multi-Tool") in the Western District of Pennsylvania seeking payment of medical claims in excess of $81,000 arising from an accident that occurred while he was driving his motorcycle under the influence of alc

Margaret Stewart, Dan Berryman, William Keith, Laura Spencer, Lee Callison, Stephanie Glowa, Terri Gorecki, and Jamey Paulson (collectively "Plaintiffs") appeal the district court's dismissal of their complaint brought under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 ("ERISA"), 29 U.S.C. §§ 1001-1461. The district court determined that Plaintiffs' lawsuit was barred by res judicata

We must decide whether the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA), 29 U.S.C. §§ 621-634, which prohibits an employer from discriminating against any employee age 40 and over on the basis of age, provides a cause of action for employees within the protected class who claim that their employer discriminated against them on the basis of age because of the employer's more favorable treatment of o

Metropolitan Life Insurance Company ("MetLife") filed an interpleader action, request-ing the district court to designate the proper beneficiary of Jimmie Johnson's life insurance policy. The district court ruled in favor of LaShanda Smith, Leonard Smith and Carolyn Hall, and the insured's former wife, Mildred John-son, appeals. * * * Jimmie Johnson was an employee of General Electric ("GE"

This case arises under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 ("ERISA"), 29 U.S.C. § 1001, et seq. Plaintiff Kenneth Nord seeks disability welfare benefits from defendant Black & Decker Disability Benefits Plan ("Black & Decker" or the "Plan"). The district court granted summary judgment in favor of Black & Decker, holding that it did not abuse its discretion by denying Nord dis

Plaintiff-Appellee LeTourneau Lifelike Orthotics & Prosthetics, Inc. ("LeTourneau") filed this action in district court against the captioned Defendants-Appellants, seeking $9,767 in payment for replacing part of a prosthetic device that LeTourneau had furnished to Pamela L. Nichols, a beneficiary of the defendant Wal-Mart Associates Health & Welfare Plan (the "Plan"). In addition to asserting tha

Reliable Home Health Care, Inc. ("Reliable") filed suit against the Glapion Group, Inc. ("Glapion") for breach of its fiduciary duties arising out of a deferred compensation plan created by Glapion for Reliable. This case involves a claim of breach of fiduciary duty under ERISA. Prior to trial, Reliable settled with Union Central Insurance Co. ("Union Central") for $165,000. Following a bench tria

Plaintiff, Jane G. Fitts ("Fitts"), claims that defendants, her former employer, Federal National Mortgage Association ("Fannie Mae"), and its employee disability insurance provider, Unum Life Insurance Company of America ("Unum"), violated the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA), 29 U.S.C. § 1001 et seq., because they determined that she was eligible to receive disability

{1} In this punitive damages case, we are asked to assess jury awards in favor of Jim Aken and against Plains Electric on Aken's claims for retaliatory discharge and defamation. We conduct an analysis on procedural and substantive levels and affirm the jury awards.

FACTS

{2} On July 28, 1993, Aken had worked for Plains for nine years. He had been selected employee of the mo

Plaintiff Bryan K. Nance appeals the district court's entry of summary judgment in favor of Sun Life Assurance Company of Canada (Sun Life) on his claim for long-term disability benefits under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA), 29 U.S.C. § 1001, et seq. The district court ruled that Sun Life's decision to deny benefits based on Plaintiff's back condition and depression wa

Jin Zhou, a licensed chiropractor, treated Arleen Baker from June to October of 2000. Baker participated in an insurance plan for which Guardian Life Insurance Co. of America (“Guardian”) administered the claims. Baker assigned Zhou the right to receive payment from Guardian. That is, rather than bill Baker directly, Baker permitted Zhou to submit the costs of his treatment dire