Unum has found itself on the receiving end of another Unum lawsuit alleging the company wrongfully denied disability benefits to a policyholder.

According to this Unum lawsuit, plaintiff Michael B. of Louisiana was covered by Unum while he worked at the Coca-Cola Company. During this time, Michael suffered a serious back injury, allegedly disabling him.

However, Unum denied the disability benefits claim, ruling that Michael was not really disabled. After a series of appeals, Unum declared the case closed.

However, under a law called the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA), such a determination can be challenged. ERISA is designed to be partially enforced through lawsuits like the one filed by Michael.

A Unum lawsuit under ERISA may compel Unum to comply with the terms of the policy. Unum lawsuits often allege that it’s an inherent conflict of interest that Unum is the party to the disability benefits insurance and the party that would have to pay out if they rule that their policyholders are disabled and entitled to disability benefits.

Unum has been at the center of negative press attention since the television news magazine “60 Minutes” aired an exposé of alleged Unum practices in October 2002. Unum employees interviewed in the segment made claims like “my job was to terminate and deny claims.”

Allegedly, Unum awarded the now-infamous “Hungry Vulture Award” to the Unum agent that denied insurance claims. Unum has also been on the receiving end of a number of Unum lawsuits that allege, similarly to this one, that Unum wrongfully denied disability insurance benefits.

The Unum Claim Denial Lawsuit is Case No. 0498, in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Louisiana, Monroe Division.