A Mississippi woman diagnosed with severe fibromyalgia has filed a second Unum lawsuit against the disability insurance company for discontinuing benefits after a previously settled Unum lawsuit.

Plaintiff Phyllis “Kay” D. claims she was determined to be totally disabled but was immediately denied long-term disability benefits by Unum Life Insurance Company. She filed a second Unum lawsuit against the disability insurance company in 2002 and when the case settled, Kay began receiving disability benefits. However, the plaintiff claims it only took a few years until Unum began trying to discontinue her disability benefits by using bad faith insurance practices.

Despite the previously settled disability benefits case, Kay reports that Unum began repeatedly asking her to accept a one-time payout instead of the long-term disability benefits. When Kay denied their requests, she alleges the company hired a private investigation firm to conduct video surveillance to record the activities of Kay and her family.

The Unum bad faith insurance lawsuit further claims that when the video surveillance showed that the plaintiff was not engaging in physical activity that would prove she could go back to work, Unum took it one step further.

In 2013, Kay says she was forced to travel to Florida to see a physician chosen by Unum to determine if her condition was truly disabling. According to the Unum lawsuit, Kay claims the Unum doctor “conducted no functional capacity evaluation or any other tests or diagnostic procedures beyond his review of the plaintiff’s medial records, his verbal interview with the plaintiff, and a basic physical examination.”

After seeing the doctor selected by Unum, the company determined that Kay should be able to go back to work and withheld her disability insurance once more. The Unum lawsuit cites the reason for denial was the statement of the Unum doctor “the diagnosis of fibromyalgia would not lead to permanent disability.” Kay alleges that Unum intentionally changed the wording of the doctor’s general statement which was actually “a diagnosis of fibromyalgia should not lead to permanent disability.”

The Unum lawsuit claims the plaintiff is owed for overdue unpaid disability benefits and she is entitled to continued disability benefits.

Bad Faith Insurance Denial

Unum is one of the largest disability insurance companies in the nation as they handle nearly 40 percent of disability insurance policies. For years, the company has been under scrutiny for claims of bad faith practices including:

• Investigations that are performed by biased and sometimes unqualified “experts.” 
• Claims representatives who take favorable opinions of nurses over physicians when it comes to disability reports.
• Misreading medical records in order to deny claims.
• Omitting records from record reviewers when it would show a claimant as disabled.

Unum Lawsuits

Kay’s case is one of thousands of Unum lawsuits filed across the United States that have accused the company of unfairly denying disability benefits as well as bad faith insurance practices. Many plaintiffs have settled with the company for hundreds of thousands of dollars and in some cases millions. If you were denied benefits by Unum after being diagnosed with a disability you may have legal claim. 

The Unum Bad Faith Insurance Lawsuit is Case No. 1:15-cv-00099-DMB-DAS, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Mississippi, Aberdeen Division.