A policy holder says that Unum wrongfully denied her long term disability insurance, in violation of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974.

Plaintiff Lynnea S. says that she had a long term disability insurance policy through her employer, Buerkle Motor Company, Inc., offered through Unum Life Insurance Company of America. She says that she suffers from multiple impairments including fibromyalgia, irritable bowel syndrome, chronic pain syndrome, carpal tunnel syndrome, radial tunnel syndrome, and cognitive impairment.

She says that she is considered disabled as that term is defined by the provisions of her long term disability plan. She says that she ceased work at Buerkle Motor Company due to her disabilities on June 20, 2015. She says that she filed a timely application for long term benefits under her insurance plan.

Lynnea says that Unum paid long term disability benefits from Jan. 11, 2016 to Oct. 25, 2017 under reservation of rights and without “making a decision regarding her entitlement to benefits.” She notes that the company did receive neuropsychological testing that showed that Lynnea did indeed have a cognitive impairment, as she claimed.

Lynnea also claimed that the company performed an evaluation to determine that she could only sit between five and six hours per day, and stand between one and two hours per day. Allegedly, she could not perform sedentary strength work, and on the whole, could not perform full time work. Allegedly, the company also received information from Lynnea’s workplace that showed that she was indeed disabled.

However, Lynnea’s long term disability insurance lawsuit says that despite this evidence of her disability, Unum denied her claim for long term disability insurance. Allegedly, Lynnea received an acceptance of liability letter on Oct. 25, 2017, informing her that the company was removing her reservation of rights, but would continue to evaluate her claim.

Lynnea alleges that she was denied her ongoing long term disability insurance benefits on Nov. 9, 2017, and the company stated that she “could perform her own occupation.” She claims that this decision was made solely in an attempt to save the company money, and was based on a “series of mischaracterizations of the record and blatant cherry picking of the information to create false and misleading impressions of the evidence in the file.”

According to Lynnea, she appealed this decision and provided new evidence to support her claim for long term disability insurance. She says that this claim was denied on Feb. 12, 2018, and alleges that this decision was made contrary to the medical evidence she provided.

She argues that Unum “allowed its concern over its own funds to influence its decision-making” and had a conflict of interest and bias, which influenced the company’s decision to deny her benefits.

The Unum Long Term Disability Insurance Benefits Class Action Lawsuit is Case No. 1:18-cv-00248, in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee, Chattanooga Division.

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