A Unum lawsuit alleged that the Unum Life Insurance Company has participated in a bad faith insurance denial — preventing a policyholder from getting a payout on a disability benefits claim.

According to the Unum lawsuit, plaintiff Troy Arrington filed a disability benefits claims while he was insured by an Unum insurance policy. The Unum lawsuit says that he suffered physical and psychological injuries, leaving him disabled.

Allegedly, this included facial nerve damage, cervical disc herniation, and post-traumatic stress disorder, among other injuries. According to the Unum lawsuit, Unum initially approved Arrington for short-term disability benefits in August 2010, but was denied long-term disability benefits in November 2011.

Arrington pursued a series of appeals through Unum’s internal appeals process, all giving the same rejection, according to the Unum lawsuit. Under certain laws, a policyholder has to exhaust an insurance company’s internal appeals process before pursuing legal action.

The Employee Retirement Income Security Act, or ERISA, governs pensions and disability insurance. The law was first created in response to several well-publicized scandals over failed pension plans. However, under ERISA, a disability insurance policyholder may filed a lawsuit against their disability insurance company, like the Unum Life Insurance Company, if they believe they have been the victim of a bad faith insurance denial.

Bad faith is a legal term meaning one party in a contract is trying to get out of their contractual obligations. In the case of insurance law, the contract in question is usually the insurance policy.

Unum has been the subject of numerous lawsuits alleging that the company has denied legitimate insurance claims in bad faith. A 2001 investigation by the television news magazine 60 Minutes found that Unum had actually offered incentives to employees to deny disability insurance benefits.

According to the investigation, employees had “denial quotas” and the employee who denied the most disability benefits claims was given the now-infamous “Hungry Vulture Award.”

The 60 Minutes interview, as well has numerous Unum lawsuits, have alleged that the company routinely denies legitimate insurance claims. Arrington’s Unum lawsuit seeks to reinstate his Unum disability insurance benefits. The Unum lawsuit also seeks to recoup back-owed payments, with interest and legal fees.

The Unum lawsuit is Troy Arrington v. Unum Life Insurance Company, Civil Action No. 549, filed in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, Beaumont Division.