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December 05, 2025
ATLANTA — Saying in an unpublished per curiam opinion that the multiple physician reviews that a long-term disability (LTD) insurer obtained and the claimant’s “social media activity” and medical records constituted substantial evidence for terminating benefits under a group insurance policy’s any-occupation definition of disability, the 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals affirmed summary judgment for the insurer.
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December 03, 2025
BALTIMORE — Addressing three expert challenges in a putative class action concerning NFL disability benefits, a Maryland federal magistrate judge excluded one expert in full and one in part and declined to exclude the third.
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November 21, 2025
By Jamie O’Neill and Abigail Damsky
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November 24, 2025
ATLANTA — Reversing and remanding a ruling against a long-term disability (LTD) claimant, a split 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel on Nov. 21 ruled that it was unreasonable for the insurer to interpret a preexisting conditions exclusion in a way that the majority said means that “treatment for a headache during the lookback period converts any disease or condition that causes headaches into a preexisting condition.”
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November 21, 2025
ATLANTA — Upholding termination of long-term disability (LTD) benefits in a case that turned on a therapist’s notes, the 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals said in an unpublished Nov. 20 opinion that although some of the notes are “troubling” because they report passive suicidal ideation, as a whole they do not show that the claimant “was unable to perform her duties as a commercial litigator.”
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November 19, 2025
ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Long-term disability (LTD) and residual disability insurers agreed to give up their right to appeal and pay a pediatric dermatologist more than $1 million in retroactive benefits, attorney fees and prejudgment interest under a stipulated final judgment that a Michigan federal judge approved.
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November 19, 2025
NEW YORK — A New York federal judge declined to remand a dispute over terminated long-term disability (LTD) benefits to the insurer for review on the merits, explaining that any remedy would be “premature” because she had not yet reviewed the termination decision, then in a memorandum endorsement denied the claimant’s subsequent request for discovery and cautioned that any attempt to increase the insurer’s legal fees “is likely to backfire.”
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November 18, 2025
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. — A West Virginia federal judge declined to dismiss a bad faith claim against a long-term disability (LTD) insurer and ruled that four out of five allegations as to violation of the West Virginia Unfair Trade Practices Act (UTPA) survive.
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November 14, 2025
LOS ANGELES — After weighing the opinions of treating and reviewing physicians, a California federal judge concluded that a software engineer “was unable to perform the specific duties required by his job with reasonable continuity due to diagnosed symptoms of cognitive impairment, brain fog, and fatigue likely resulting from long-haul COVID-19” and therefore entitled to long-term disability (LTD) benefits.
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November 14, 2025
SAN FRANCISCO — Issues including assessing differing medical opinions and whether new reasons for denial of long-term disability (LTD) benefits were improperly raised during a bench trial are disputed in Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals briefs in the case of a former underwriter who says he was disabled by cognitive impairments and other symptoms he attributes to long COVID.
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November 14, 2025
KANSAS CITY, Kan. — Allowing both claims to proceed in a financial analyst’s challenge to termination of his long-term disability (LTD) benefits, a Kansas federal judge declined to dismiss what she concluded was an alternative theory of liability for alleged breach of fiduciary duty under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act.
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November 10, 2025
OAKLAND, Calif. — A long-term disability (LTD) claimant described by a California federal judge as having a “constellation of psychological and physical issues” was awarded retroactive partial disability benefits and interest totaling $100,849.01 pursuant to a stipulation the parties entered after she prevailed at summary judgment.
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November 04, 2025
ATLANTA — Arguing that the plan terms gave its claims administrator the discretion to determine what constitutes sufficient proof of disability, a long-term disability (LTD) insurer filed a Nov. 3 brief asking the 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals to affirm summary judgment in its favor in a dispute involving interpretation of the term “work” and reject the claimant’s urging to take the position outlined in a report and recommendation the lower court declined to adopt.
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November 03, 2025
NEW YORK — Declining to exercise ancillary jurisdiction over a fee issue that involves a retainer agreement, a New York federal judge said that doing so in the otherwise concluded case concerning long-term disability (LTD) benefits “would require the Court to decide entirely new claims and would not result in judicial economy.”
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October 31, 2025
PHOENIX — Bad faith, breach of contract and reformation claims survived a dismissal bid in a putative class case over whether certain individual long-term disability (LTD) benefits must be paid through eligible insureds’ 65th birthdays, and an Arizona federal judge allowed limited leave to amend as to claims he dismissed in the Oct. 30 order.
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October 30, 2025
LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Citing a 2012 ruling, a Kentucky federal judge granted remand to a long-term disability (LTD) insurer’s claims administrator in a case where the plaintiff’s claim was overlooked for months because of an employee’s procedural mistake; the judge also said that it appears that the claimant “is eligible to receive a fee award because she has achieved some degree of success on the merits by virtue of the remand order.”
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October 30, 2025
RICHMOND, Va. — The Fourth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals has scheduled oral argument for Dec. 9 in an appeal of a ruling that a claimant is owed past-due long-term disability (LTD) benefits because long COVID symptoms have disabled her from working as an engineer; a key issue in the case is whether de novo review was proper.
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October 27, 2025
NEW ORLEANS — The Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals has scheduled Dec. 3 oral argument in an Employee Retirement Income Security Act appeal where the Bert Bell/Pete Rozelle NFL Player Retirement Plan challenges an award of more than $1.25 million in attorney fees and costs to a former National Football League player who sought a higher level of disability benefits than he had been awarded, and the former player counters that the issue “was forfeited long ago.”
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October 17, 2025
FRESNO, Calif. — A disability case in which the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals revived a breach of contract claim has been dismissed with prejudice by a California federal magistrate judge pursuant to a joint stipulation; an oral surgeon filed the suit after unsuccessfully seeking disability benefits on the grounds that his comorbid conditions and inability to access recommended personal protective equipment (PPE) made it necessary to close his practice early in the COVID-19 pandemic.
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October 14, 2025
MONTGOMERY, Ala. — Ruling on a firefighter’s request for review of his unsuccessful disability claims, the Alabama Supreme Court partly reversed and remanded because the allegations in his mandamus petition “indicate that there is at least a possibility that he could prevail” on his claim that he is entitled to ordinary disability benefits because he developed hypertension during his employment.
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October 14, 2025
INDIANAPOLIS — Affirming a ruling against the appellant, an Indiana appeals panelagreed with the Indiana State Police (ISP) that a former state trooper lost his entitlement to long-term disability (LTD) benefits upon assuming full-time elected office.
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October 10, 2025
PHILADELPHIA — Weeks after the plaintiff in a long-term disability (LTD) benefits case was awarded reduced attorney fees of $117,297.50 by the trial court, the Third Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals dismissed the insurer’s appeal pursuant to a joint stipulation.
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October 09, 2025
MILWAUKEE — Concluding in part that the plaintiff didn’t show that the fiduciary exception to attorney-client privilege applies, a Wisconsin federal judge upheld termination of long-term disability (LTD) benefits in a case that involved disputes regarding the duties of the claimant’s “regular occupation” as a customer service representative who worked remotely.
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October 08, 2025
NEW YORK — Saying that the determination at issue was “based on the objective evidence of doctors and psychologists,” a New York federal judge upheld denial of long-term disability (LTD) benefits for a corporate finance attorney who claimed that she became unable to do her job after her vehicle was rear-ended at a traffic light.
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October 08, 2025
SAN FRANCISCO — On de novo review of a case challenging termination of long-term disability (LTD) benefits under an any-occupation standard, a California federal magistrate judge found that “the medical evidence does not establish that Plaintiff is unable to enter the workforce” but that vocational evidence is needed to determine whether the claimant is disabled under the plan terms.