Unum Life Insurance Company of America faces a disability insurance lawsuit filed by a woman who seeks judicial review of her denial of disability benefits allegedly owed to her by the defendant.

According to the Unum long-term disability benefits complaint, plaintiff Pamela D. had worked as a Regional Consulting Manager at Veritas Software Corporation. This position had required her to travel frequently, lift and carry up to 20 pounds, and supervise more than 40 employees.

The disability denial lawsuit alleges that the defendant, Unum, provided an LTD (Long Term Disability) plan for its employees as part of its employee benefits, which had also covered the plaintiff. The disability benefits were, therefore, provided by the defendant.

In July 2002, while still employed and covered under Unum, Pamela says she was involved in a rear-end motor vehicle accident in which her air bags had failed to deploy. She was immediately taken to the emergency room but continued to suffer after her discharge from head and neck pain until March 2003. She had continued to work for Veritas until that time, but she had to discontinue her work as her symptoms had allegedly become too severe.

According to her Unum long-term disability benefits complaint, Pamela received but exhausted her short-term disability income benefits. She began receiving LTD in January 2005.

Pamela had attempted several treatment measures including chiropractic manipulation, shoulder surgery, and physical therapy, but she had continued to suffer from maladies including neck pain, right shoulder pain, degenerative disk disease of the spine, vertigo, vomiting, and severe head and neck pain with nausea.

Still receiving her LTD benefits since 2004, the plaintiff was ordered to complete a medical examination in May 2016 by Dr. Pham, a selected defendant physician. The physician’s medical examination assessed that he felt that the plaintiff’s “head and neck pain were somatic in origin.”

On Feb. 1, 2017, Unum issued a “seemingly final” decision affirming its denial of benefits and allegedly stating that “the plaintiff had a right to bring a civil suit under ERISA.” However, the defendant reopened a re-appeal review on Feb. 2, 2017.

As of today, Pamela has still not been awarded a final decision on her disability benefits, and under the unusual circumstances, assumes that her claims are denied.

The Unum long-term disability benefits complaint alleges that the plaintiff has “exhausted her administrative remedies under ERISA.” She alleges that “in wrongfully denying benefits … defendant failed to comply with its fiduciary duties under ERISA.”

These fiduciary duties include the defendant not taking adequate decision making actions, and failing to advise the plaintiff why specific medical evidences accounted by the physician proves that she should not be receiving LTD benefits any longer.

According to the Unum long-term disability benefits complaint, the plaintiff requests that the defendant “pay any and all back-due benefits and reinstate any future benefits, including but not limited to long term disability and group life insurance waiver of premium benefits, if any.”

The Unum Long-Term Disability Benefits Lawsuit is Case No. 1:17-cv-01368-RPM, in the U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado.