An Unum lawsuit has been filed by a Maryland woman who alleges that Unum Life Insurance Company of America wrongly denied her disability insurance coverage after she developed conditions that kept her from being able to perform the tasks necessary for her job.

Plaintiff Darlene Dumpit was an Attorney Assistant at Hogan Lovells in 2012 when she became disabled. Her company provided disability insurance through Unum, and she applied for coverage at that point, according to her Unum lawsuit.

Unum is the largest disability insurance company in the country. It’s been alleged that in an effort to boost their bottom line, they have been unjustly denying and terminating thousands of valid disability insurance claims, including Dumpit’s.

Dumpit’s list of ailments for her disability claim stated she “suffers from chronic pain, degenerative joint disease, lumbago, dwarfism, osteoarthritis, lumbosacral spondylosis, scoliosis, carpal tunnel syndrome, and trigger finger, among other conditions.”

When Dumpit became disabled on Aug. 10, 2012, she was approved to receive disability benefits through Feb. 6, 2013, the maximum time allowed, she claims in her disability insurance lawsuit.

When short term disability ran out, Dumpit applied for long term disability benefits and filed a Life Insurance Premium Waver. This first request was approved on March 12, 2013, but the latter was denied on Aug. 9, 2013. On Aug. 12, 2013, Unum terminated Dumpit’s long-term disability, the Unum lawsuit states.

Dumpit obtained counsel, collected evidence, and filed an appeal in February 2014. Her appeal concluded with two bolded statements saying, “[1] The initial request for information remains continuing in nature. All documents added to this file must be sent in a timely manner for review prior to your decision. [2] Should you choose to have Claimant’s submitted evidence reviewed by any medical and/or vocational professional, Claimant hereby reserves the right to respond to such professional’s report prior to your making a final claims determination.”

Unum reportedly didn’t respond within the 90 days required and Dumpit alleges in her insurance claim denial lawsuit that Unum “continues to make excuses for its inaction including undertaking an additional unethical psychological review.”

Dumpit’s benefits are reportedly still being denied. This rejection is deemed final by Unum, so Dumpit filed this Unum lawsuit under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA). This federal law sets minimum standards for most voluntarily established health and pension plans in private industry to protect individuals in these plans.

Dumpit argues that she is still entitled to receive benefits as she “satisfied all conditions to be eligible under the plan” and that she never waived or gave up her benefit program, and according to her insurance claim denial lawsuit, requests for documentation from Unum for her appeal were ignored. She is seeking payment of attorney fees and costs, and is requesting $110 per day in penalties as Unum failed to procure the asked for documents.

The Unum Disability Insurance Lawsuit is Darlene Dumpit v. Unum Life Insurance Company, Case No. 1:14-cv-01761-WMN, in the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland.

Unum and Disability Insurance

Unum Group, formerly known as UnumProvident, is a Fortune 500 company based in Tennessee. Renamed Unum in 2007, it is the top disability insurer in the United States and the United Kingdom, with around 15 million subscribers and annual revenues of over $10 billion.

Unum also has the most disability insurance lawsuits lodged against it. Unum lawsuits over the past two decades state that Unum has systematically denied thousands of policy holders their disability insurance.