A California woman has filed a lawsuit against Unum Life Insurance Company of America after being denied long-term disability benefits. Plaintiff Rose E. is suing Unum for breach of contract after the company allegedly rejected her disability claim and denied her benefits despite a doctor’s confirmation that her medical conditions no longer permit her to perform the regular duties required of her profession.

Rose has been a registered nurse for 37 years but alleges physical injuries and medical ailments no longer allow her to work. The Unum lawsuit states that Rose’s physician diagnosed her with a host of medical conditions, including diabetes, hypertension, gastroesphageal reflux disease, plantar fasciitis, lower back pain, carpal tunnel syndrome, pain and numbness in her legs, left shoulder pain, and anxiety due to her physical problems.

Her doctor determined that based on these health concerns, Rose should not stand or work for longer than 30 minutes at a time, cannot lift more than 10 pounds, or sit for longer than one hour. Based on her conditions, Rose became disabled in February 2014.

Rose’s plan with Unum defines total disability as “being unable to perform the material substantial duties of her regular occupation and have a 20% or more loss in indexed monthly earnings due to the same sickness or injury.”

Rose alleges that Unum should have started paying her benefits in August 2014, but Unum instead denied her claim. When the long-term disability benefits did not come, Rose appealed the decision. Unum denied her appeal in April 2015.

The Unum claim denial lawsuit alleges Rose is entitled to her unpaid disability benefits from August 26, 2014 until the present, and continuing in to future.

Bad Faith Insurance Denial

More than 17 million Americans deduct a portion of their paycheck to pay Unum for disability insurance benefits, with the idea that should they eventually become disabled, they will have some reliable income.

Unum is one of the largest disability insurance companies in the United States, but for years the company has been accused of engaging in what is referred to as bad faith practices.

Some of the bad faith practices Unum policyholders have reported include:

• Misreading medical records in order to deny claims
• Investigations that are performed by biased and sometimes unqualified “experts”
• Changing policies once claims are filed (and without the authorization or knowledge of policy holders)
• Claims representatives who take favorable opinions of nurses over physicians when it comes to disability reports
• Refusing to acknowledge claimants’ disability
• Omitting records sent to reviewers when the record would show a claimant as disabled

Disability Insurance Lawsuits

The bad faith insurance lawsuit filed by Rose is just one of thousands that plaintiffs have filed against Unum. In general, these lawsuits accuse the company of unfairly denying benefits and of engaging in some of the bad faith practices mentioned above.

Many plaintiffs settle the disability insurance lawsuits with Unum and receive compensation. Contact a lawyer if you were denied benefits after being diagnosed as disabled and you would like to discuss a claim.

The Unum Lawsuit is Case No. 2:15-cv-04563-MWF-FFM, in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California.