A former nurse, whom Unum has previously classified as permanently disabled, filed a Unum lawsuit alleging the insurance company has since denied her disability benefits in an act of bad faith insurance denial.

Plaintiff Nancy K. was working as a nurse in 1997, when she slipped on ice and landed on the palm of her left hand. Initial X-rays indicated that there was no broken bone, but her condition worsened until the summer of 1997, when her doctors found that the damage to her wrist was much more severe than initially believed, her Unum lawsuit says.

Doctors found a previously-unnoticed break in her bone, damage to the cartilage in her hand, and serious nerve damage, according to her Unum lawsuit. Despite four surgeries, the damage to her hand got more and more severe, culminating in a diagnosis of type-1 Complex Regional Pain Syndrome, debilitating neurological problems which are not easily treated.

Nancy initially applied for Unum disability benefits in October 1998, when she stopped working. Unum initially denied her disability benefits, but after an appeal it acknowledged that she was permanently disabled. Unum reportedly paid out on her disability benefits plan until April 2014, when they “reassessed” her status.

Although two of her physicians said she was “totally and permanently disabled and would be unable to work as a Registered Nurse and/or in any other full-time occupation,” Unum has maintained that Nancy is not disabled, insisting that she could perform some kind of work.

Unum’s own records show that Nancy’s arm problems would mean that she would have to take numerous breaks and days off in a work environment. Additionally, earlier Unum decisions and Nancy’s physicians have stated that the slightest touch to her damaged arm could cause debilitating pain.

Nancy’s Unum lawsuit holds that this is an example of bad faith insurance denial. Bad faith is a legal term that means one party of a contract is trying to avoid its legal obligations.

In this context, the contract in question is the disability insurance policy, and Unum is allegedly acting in bad faith by denying a legitimate disability insurance claim in order to avoid paying out.

Nancy”s Unum lawsuit holds that the situation is the result of an inherent conflict of interest that Unum is the party to decide if she is disabled, and would have to pay out her disability insurance benefits.

The Unum Lawsuit is Case No. 1:15-cv-00029, in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Michigan, Southern Division.