Lawyers who handle long-term disability (LTD) claims that are governed by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA), will want to read this opinion. The opinion is titled, Enrique Talamantes v. Metropolitan Life Insurance Company. It is a 2021, opinion from the United States Fifth Circuit. It is a ruling that is favorable to the insured, which is unusual in cases governed by ERISA.
Plaintiff, was an engineer for him employer, BD. BD provided its employees LTD coverage through plans governed by ERISA. During the relevant time period, BD used two insurers, Standard Insurance Co. (“Standard”) for the 2016 calendar year and MetLife Insurance Co. (“MetLife”) for the 2017 calendar year, to fund LTD payments under the Plan.
On November 9, 2016, Plaintiff became disabled due to trigeminal neuralgia and underwent microvascular decompression surgery. In light of this disability, Plaintiff was approved for and paid short-term disability(“STD”) benefits for 34 days under the Plan from November 18, 2016 through December 22, 2016. The Plan’s STD benefits were paid by BD and administered by Sedgwick Claims Management Services (“Sedgwick”) and did not involve Standard or MetLife. On December 23, 2016, Plaintiff returned to full-time active work. Standard’s policy terminated on December 31, 2016, and MetLife’s policy became effective on January 1, 2017. On January 12, 2017, Plaintiff stopped working and again became disabled because of a relapse in his trigeminal neuralgia symptoms.
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