Unum Life Insurance Company is facing a disability insurance lawsuit alleging that it wrongfully denied short-term disability benefits.

Plaintiff Frank A., was an employee of Sysmex America Inc. and was insured through a welfare benefit plan providing short-term disability benefits issued by Unum. Frank claims that Unum Life Insurance Company wrongfully denied his disability benefits and filed a Unum bad faith insurance lawsuit.

According to the disability insurance lawsuit, Unum denied Frank’s claim for short-term disability benefits, finding he was not disabled under the terms of his plan. Frank alleges that Unum breached its obligations under the federal labor law ERISA, since after being unable to perform his work duties, he applied for and received long-term disability benefits Unum paid until he returned to work in October 2014, but was denied short-term disability benefits by Unum.

On March 3, Frank received his last insurance claim denial letter from Unum, which led to his Unum claim denial lawsuit.

Frank is seeking 12 weeks of unpaid short term disability benefits to be paid for the period of July 31, 2014 until Oct. 29, 2014 and reimbursement for his attorneys’ fees.

Unum Bad Faith Insurance Practices

Unum, previously known as First Unum and Unum Provident, was the subject of national headlines in 2004 when a class action lawsuit was filed that shed a spotlight on systematic deliberate denial of claims taking place at all levels of management at Unum.

Memos showed that Unum was deliberately denying claims, telling claims adjusters that the more claims they denied the more likely they would keep their jobs and earn incentive bonuses.

Two investigative news stories aired on 60 Minutes and Dateline that showed the suspect practices of Unum Life Insurance Company.   Additionally, former employees of Unum spoke out against the company, claiming the insurance provider put profits before responsibility to provide disability insurance benefits.

Unum Insurance Claim Denial Practices

Unum has written disability insurance policies for approximately 17 million Americans, making it the largest disability insurance provider in the United States.

It has denied countless insurance claims to thousands of policyholders in the past two decades. Some examples of Unum’s alleged denial tactics include:

• Improperly investigating the claim and obtaining opinions from unqualified experts
• Demanding repeated requests for independent medical examinations or denying a claim without any medical examination or reasonable explanation
• Partially paying a claim for total disability and then denying the same claim at a subsequent date

Unum Claim Denial Lawsuits

Many disability insurance lawsuits against Unum fall under federal ERISA guidelines governing group insurance benefits. Other actions against Unum include bad faith insurance lawsuits in the matter of claims denied or terminated under individual short term or long-term disability benefits coverage.

If you or a loved one have suffered a serious short-term or long-term disability while insured by Unum Life Insurance Company and have been denied disability claim benefits, you may be eligible to take legal action against Unum.

The Unum Short-Term Disability Benefits Lawsuit is Case No. 6:15-cv-01337, U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida, Orlando Division.