A plaintiff, Joan C., filed a lawsuit in Tennessee federal court against Unum Life Insurance Co. alleging that the defendant unlawfully denied her claim for long-term disability benefits.

According to the Unum long term disability lawsuit, Joan had demonstrated to the insurance company that she qualified for these benefits under the alleged insurance policy.

She is filing the lawsuit to recover past benefits and be granted future benefits under her Unum disability insurance policy.

Joan, a resident and citizen of Winchester, Tenn., had participated in the ERISA Employee Benefit Plan that was provided to her by Unum Life, the Unum long term disability lawsuit maintains.

However, Unum Life, a corporation with its place of business in Tennessee, denied the long-term disability benefits under the plan and policy.

According to her Unum long term disability lawsuit, she was covered by the disability policy through her employment. The specific policy was termed an “employee welfare benefit plan.” Her policy became effective on October 1, 2011.

According to the Unum long term disability lawsuit, “under the policy, a participant is disabled if she is limited from performing the material and substantial duties of her regular occupation due to sickness or injury, and has a 20 percent or more loss in indexed monthly earnings due to the same sickness or injury.”

The Unum long term disability lawsuit further maintains that the plaintiff was diagnosed with lupus in 1998, and developed progressive neuropathy in 2005. Because of both conditions, she began receiving long term disability benefits in February 2012.

Although she had later returned to work, her conditions had worsened, and by February 2016, she ended her employment at Aerospace Testing Alliance because of her medical condition. Her Unum long term disability lawsuit contends that she should be guaranteed continuity of coverage so long as she meets the insurance company’s definition of disability.

According to the Unum long term disability lawsuit, the plaintiff filed for long term disability benefits in May 2016, but Unum rejected the claim in July 2016. After submitting an appeal in January 2017, she received a denial to that appeal as well, in April 2017.

According to the Unum long term disability lawsuit, the plaintiff had submitted medical records, documents, employment information, correspondence and affidavits that proved that her health had declined over time, which was why she was unable to perform her job under her regular occupation.

Additionally, she claims that the reason that Unum had denied claims to long-term disability benefits was that they relied on the opinion of Dr. Jonathan McAllister, a paid medical consultant to the insurance company.

His opinion iterated that she had the functional ability to perform her work. However, the Unum long term disability lawsuit claims that Dr. McAllister had never examined the plaintiff and had never spoken to her treating physician nor one which had acknowledged that the plaintiff does not, in fact, possess the ability to perform her job.

Joan requests long-term disability benefits “payable under the policy, past and present, plus interest.” She is also requesting to, “enter a declaratory judgment as to plaintiff’s entitlement to future benefits and an order directing Unum to pay all long-term disability benefits until plaintiff’s coverage expires under the terms of the policy.”

The Unum Long Term Disability Lawsuit is Case No. 3:17-cv-01119, in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee.