A 54-year old food service associate for Prudential Health & Service says she was wrongfully denied disability benefits by Unum.

Plaintiff Leticia S. of California is filing a lawsuit after being denied disability benefits by Unum. Leticia claims Unum is contractually obligated to pay benefits for claims covered under her disability benefits insurance plan.

Since 1991, Leticia worked as a food service associate for Prudential until she became disabled on Sept. 16, 2013.

According to her lawsuit, her job at Prudential was a high-energy, demanding position which required her to plan and coordinate catering setups, greeting customers and handling customer complaints.

Her disability began when Leticia was diagnosed with ovarian cancer, for which she had surgery and extensive chemotherapy and radiation.

Her lawsuit states that, as is the case in many instances, cancer survivors have often serious side effects from radiation and chemotherapy.

In Leticia’s case, she contends she has been suffering from severe weakness and fatigue leading to a serious case of neuropathy, nausea and forgetfulness.

She was also diagnosed with fibromyalgia, for which there are no diagnostic tests to establish the condition. She received physical therapy and had upper and lower back pain with joint restrictions in addition to left shoulder and knee complaints.

Both of her treating physicians have written letters forwarded to Unum stating Leticia is disabled and unable to work in her occupation or in any other occupations due to her condition.

Despite receiving substantial medical evidence and receiving two years of long term disability benefits by Unum, Leticia was without warning denied disability benefits by Unum.

Leticia says that Unum chose to take the position that she could perform the duties of her occupation based on the medical assessment of Unum’s own on-site physician’s record review.

There was neither an Independent Medical Examination requested by Unum nor even an Independent Medical Records Review from a physician not employed by Unum.  This, according to Leticia’s disability benefits lawsuit, lends to Unum’s lack of credibility in denying her claim.

Leticia is seeking damages for breach of contract and is requesting to recover long term disability benefits payable at the rate of $1,192 per month, after Social Security offsets, from Sept. 18, 2015 to the present and continuing.

Denied Disability Benefits by Unum?

If a person is denied disability benefits by Unum, they can either accept that decision or appeal for another review by the insurance company. The insurance company must explain to policyholders the reason for their denial.

However, countless Unum Insurance policyholders like Leticia have experienced Unum bad faith insurance practices, which occurs when the insurance provider allegedly uses illegal tactics to deny appeals or terminating benefits all together.

Unum is the largest disability insurance company in the nation. Unum has faced thousands of individual lawsuits filed by disability lawyers on behalf of policyholders who allege their disability claims were wrongly denied.

If you were unfairly denied disability benefits by Unum, contact an experienced attorney for a free consultation regarding your legal rights and options.

The Unum Denied Disability Benefits Lawsuit is Case No. 2:16-cv-07505 in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California.