A Georgia woman who filed a claim for fibromyalgia disability through Unum Life Insurance Company of America alleges that her claim was unfairly denied.

The plaintiff, Donna C., was employed by Emory University Healthcare, which contracted with Unum to provide long term disability benefits to its employees, including Donna.

Donna says she had to stop working for Emory on Oct. 7, 2015 due to symptoms of fibromyalgia disability, including extreme fatigue, pain, cognitive difficulties, and difficulty walking and sitting. She says she applied for short term and long term disability benefits under the terms of her plan.

Her short term claim was approved through April 4, 2016, she says, and her long term fibromyalgia disability claim was paid for nearly six months, until September 2016.

However, on Sept. 9, 2016, Unum allegedly sent a letter denying her long term fibromyalgia disability claim, saying that Donna could actually perform her occupation—even though her condition had not improved, and her claim had previously been accepted.

Donna says she responded by appealing the denial of her fibromyalgia disability claim. But in April 2017, that appeal too was denied.

According to Donna’s lawsuit, Unum’s denial of her valid fibromyalgia disability claim was made in bad faith, and not actually based on the facts of the case, but placing company profit above claimant wellbeing.

The lawsuit was filed on Sept. 27, 2018, in the U.S. District Court for the Atlanta Division of the Northern District of Georgia.

Filing an Unum Long Term Disability Lawsuit

A growing number of plaintiffs like Donna are filing disability benefits lawsuits against Unum, claiming that the insurance giant unfairly denied their disability claims to benefits that they actually qualify for under the terms of their insurance policies, often provided by employers.

This Unum long term disability lawsuit and others like it allege that Unum, as the largest disability insurance company in the country, has unfairly denied the disability insurance claims of plaintiffs like Donna who are in fact qualified to receive such benefits.

Some lawsuits even allege that the company purposely denied the claims of hundreds of thousands of workers with legitimate disabilities for no reason other to increase company profit. Former employees of Unum have reported being instructed to purposely deny insurance to people with legitimate claims to disability benefits in order to fulfill the company’s quota.

As a diagnosis that relies heavily on self-reported symptoms, fibromyalgia is sometimes an easy target for disability benefit denials. Recently, a California fibromyalgia patient reported being denied disability coverage by Unum, as did another claimant whose benefits were allegedly cut short due to restrictions on disability benefits for self-reported symptoms.

People who have exhausted all recourse through applications and appeals for disability benefits may turn to filing a long term disability lawsuit over denied disability benefits, hoping to reverse Unum’s denial.

If you or someone you know has been unfairly denied long term disability benefits by Unum Life Insurance Company of America, and a disability insurance appeal isn’t enough to reverse the denial, you may be able to file an Unum long term disability lawsuit.

The Unum Fibromyalgia Disability Lawsuit is Case No. 1:18-cv-04513-CAP, in the U.S. District Court for the Atlanta Division of the Northern District of Georgia.

Do YOU have a legal claim? Fill out the form on this page now for a free, immediate, and confidential case evaluation. The bad faith insurance attorneys who work with Top Class Actions will contact you if you qualify to let you know if an individual lawsuit or Unum class action lawsuit is best for you. [In general, Unum bad faith lawsuits are filed individually by each plaintiff and are not class actions.] Hurry — statutes of limitations may apply.

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