A former Northwestern Memorial Healthcare nurse thought she had done everything correctly to satisfy her Unum disability claim when her abdominal pain became so intense she could no longer work in May 2015.

Plaintiff Candace C. worked at Northwestern as a clinical nurse until May 28, 2015. Extreme, unrelenting abdominal pain left her without the physical capability to perform her job functions.

The U.S. Department of Labor categorizes the job of clinical nurse as an occupation that requires medium physical exertion, which among other things, means she must be able to lift and hold up to 50 pounds up to 50 times per shift.

Unum agreed with this assessment of Candace’s job.

Unum’s disability benefits plan states that disabled means “that you are limited from performing the material and substantial duties of your regular occupation due to your illness, injury or maternity leave. You also need to be under the care of a physician.”

Unum approved her disability claim from her stop work date of May 28, 2015 through Aug. 2, 2015.

Candace continued to have debilitating abdominal pain that her doctors at Northwestern were struggling to diagnose. She not only had to stop working, but also found daily living activities such as laundry, self-care, and lifting groceries to be too painful to continue as normal.

Unum Allegedly Unfairly Denied Disability Claim

Candace was stunned when Unum informed her on Aug. 18, 2015 that her short-term disability benefits were terminated as of Aug. 2, 2015 without warning.

According to the lawsuit, Unum canceled the policy because Northwestern’s doctors had not diagnosed the source of Candace’s abdominal pain in what Unum deemed a timely manner.

When Unum terminated the disability benefits, the company also encouraged Candace to submit “new information” to be considered with an appeal.

However, even this invitation for new information failed to comply with federal standards that require the claimant be given a description as to why more information is necessary, the Unum lawsuit states.

Still, Candace provided proof that she could not lift more than 10 pounds, could not carry more than 12 pounds, and could not push or pull more than 40 pounds, 10 pounds less than the amount necessary to fulfill the clinical nurse job duties.

Despite the fact that the objective physical examination was completely in agreement with the findings of Northwestern’s doctors – that Candace could not fulfill duties as a clinical nurse – Unum continued to hold steadfast on its decision to terminate Candace’s policy because she did not have the exam done prior to its initial decision to terminate her benefits.

In an effort to recover short-term disability benefits she was denied, Candace has filed this lawsuit.

History of Denying Disability Claims

Allegations of unwarranted denials of claims and/or early termination of benefits by Unum date back to 2002 when the television program 60 Minutes interviewed Unum employees who said they were rewarded for reaching a claim-denial monthly quota.

A doctor even claimed Unum fired him because he refused to assist Unum in its quest to deny benefits to injured claimants.

Since that program appeared, other doctors have come forward, stating they were encouraged to falsify medical records of disabled people to make them appear healthy on paper. That way, Unum could deny the claims.

More than 3,000 lawsuits have been filed against Unum and many have been successfully settled for hundreds of thousands, even millions, of dollars in compensation for denied disability claims.

If you were denied a valid claim or if you had an unfairly terminated disability benefits policy by any of these Unum companies, you could benefit from participating in a class action lawsuit:

• Unum Group
• UnumProvident
• Unum Life Insurance Company of America
• New England Life Insurance Company
• John Hancock Financial
• John Hancock Insurance Company
• Metropolitan Life Insurance Company
• Provident Life & Accident Insurance Company
• Provident Life & Casualty Insurance Company
• Paul Revere Life Insurance Company (Paul Revere Life)
• Colonial Life & Accident Insurance Company (Colonial)
• Colonial Life Insurance Company
• Genex
• Duncanson & Holt
• MetLife (Metropolitan Life)
• New England Life and Equitable Insurance
• Equitable Life Insurance Company

The Unum Denied Disability Claim Lawsuit is Case No. 1:16-cv-04388, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, Eastern Division.